Fruit and Nut Granola

As my faithful readers know, I typically post recipes for my favorite meal: Dessert. I rarely follow recipes for lunch and dinner and am not really a ‘breakfast person’ unless you count Peanut Butter oatmeal or cereal (no need to post a recipe). I really never eat breakfast unless I know I won’t get lunch until late in the day but am rarely hungry before heading to work. I have been looking for something transportable that I could snack on at my leisure to tide me over until lunch but that was not terribly unhealthy for me.  I decided to try my hand at granola and let me tell ya, it is addicting. I have been eating this for breakfast, snacks and desserts for a week now and have no intention on quiting anytime soon. I am an addict.

After searching through several granola recipes on the internet and in cookbooks, I decided to make up my own. The great thing about granola is that the recipe itself is so versitile and addaptable based on your tastes or ingredients on hand you really can’t mess it up. This is the recipe to which I am currently addicted. It is cruchy, has a nice balance of salty/sweet flavor which is complimented and deepened by the toasted nuts.

Granola can be a healthy snack but packaged granola can contain more than its fair share of sodium, fats and sugars (and can be very pricey!!). The thing I love about making this treat at home is that it is very inexpensive and  you can control the oil, sodium and sugars that you include (as well as the nuts, fruits and other goodies).  You can even make this recipe more healthy by adding a few TBS of wheat germ or flaxseed to the oat/nut mixture before baking.  Relatively speaking, this granola is fairly low in sugars (watch out for natural sugars in the dried fruit) and fat (depending on how many nuts and coconut you add).

I have eaten this for breakfast with vanilla or strawberry yogurt, with milk or on fresh fruit (I love raspberries, strawberries and blueberries). I enjoy this as a crunchy topping for ice cream, frozen yogurt or on warm pie filling (kind of like a crisp). Let’s face it, I have also eaten this plain by the bowl-full. SO good. I just can’t get enough.

Feel free to adjust the spices, nuts and fruit to suit your tastes. I have tried several different juices and really like either Cranberry Apple or Cranberry Raspberry. They provide a subtle base flavor to the granola that does not overpower the other flavors and adds that extra dimention of flavor that a milder juice (apple) would not. I would not use a heavily flavored juice as its flavors may compete with the overal taste of the granola in my opinion, (I did NOT like Tropical fruit juice, too acidic and overpowering).

You just can’t beat the flavor of toasted nuts, oatmeal, honey and fruit. The smell alone will draw you in and before you know it the flavor and crunch keeps you coming back for ‘just a little more’ until the whole batch is gone.

I look forward to adapting this recipe many more times.  I may add some white chocolate chips to the granola after it cools to add another flavor dimension. I may keep adapting this recipe as I am excited to incorporate peanut butter in my next batch and leave out the fruit.

I rate this recipe an 8.5

Tropical Granola

Mix together in a large bowl:

2 cups old fashioned oats (not quick cooking)

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1/3 cup coconut

1/3 cup pecan halves

In a small saucepan (if heating on stove) or Glass measuring cup (if heating in microwave) combine the following ingredients:

1/3 cup Welch’s frozen Passion Fruit Juice Concentrate (thawed)

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

½ tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. ground ginger

Bring ingredients to a boil. Whisk till sugar is dissolved.

Pour syrup over dry ingredients. Stir to coats. Spread on baking sheet that has been sprayed with quick release spray.

Bake 20minutes at 350 degrees. At the end of the twenty minutes stir in the following ingredients:

1 cup dried diced pineapple

1 cup dried diced mango

1 cup dried sliced banana chips (I used unsweetened)

Bake another 10 minutes till ingredients are dry. But watch carefully it can over brown quickly.

Cool on the baking sheet. When completely cool store in tightly covered tin.

Serve with plain or vanilla non-fat yogurt.

Fruit and Nut Granola

by bakingblonde

In a large bowl mix:

2 cups old fashioned oats (not quick cooking)

1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup pecan pieces

1/3 cup flaked coconut

.

In a medium bowl combine

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup dried pineapple

1/2 cup dried blueberries

1/2 cup dried mango

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In a small saucepan combine the following ingredients:

1/3 cup Welch’s frozen CranApple or CranRaspberry Juice (thawed)
2 TBS canola or vegetable oil

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 TBS honey

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon

*salt (optional, I like to sprinkle a bit over the top before baking)

.

Preheat oven to 350.
Line a large baking sheet with foil sprayed with PAM.

Bring the above ingredients to a boi, wisking constantly until all sugar is dissolved.  Carefully, pour hot syrup over dry ingredients. Gently stir to coat.

Evenly spread on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt if desired.

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Bake for 20 minutes, stirring well after 10 mintues.

At the end of the twenty minutes stir in the dried fruits.

Bake an additional 10 minutes, stirring well after 5 mintues for even baking. Bake in 5 minute increments (stirring after every 5) until ingredients are toasted and almost dry. Watch carefully it can burn quickly!

Allow to cool completely on baking sheet. Store in airtight container.