How to Make Healthy Crunchy Homemade Granola

Ditch those store-bought granola bars that are full of refined sugar and preservatives. Using ingredients from a bulk foods or health food store, you can make homemade, delicious granola. It's good for breakfast, lunch, or as a quick snack. It's also versatile: you can have it plain or mix it up with other ingredients. My own favourite ways of having granola are with plain yogurt and with sliced fresh banana. And kids will like the natural sweetness of honey combined with the crunch of the granola.

Note: This recipe is not nut-free, but you can omit or substitute them.

This recipe yields about 7-8 cups of granola.

Ingredients

• 3 cups large flake rolled oats
• 3 cups chopped dried fruit (see the Footnotes)
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 cup raw sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup natural liquid honey
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower or pumpkin seeds
• (optional) 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 250 F.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients, except for the dried fruit, in a large bowl.
3. Combine the honey, oil, and vanilla.
4. Drizzle the honey mixture over the granola mixture and keep mixing to coat everything evenly.
5. Grease two 9x13 pans and cover both pans evenly with the granola mixture.
6. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until the granola turns golden brown, stirring every 10-15 minutes.
7. Break up any large chunks while the granola is still warm on the pans.
8. Cool the granola completely on the pans.
9. Mix in the dried fruits.

Footnotes

For 3 cups of dried fruit, I make two different fruit mixes: the first mix has 1/2 cup each of raisins, dehydrated apple, and dried papaya; and the second mix has 1/2 cup each of raisins, dried apricot, and dried cranberries. Of course, if you don't like these fruits, you can come up with your own combinations.

All dried fruits should be natural, with no added sugars and preservatives.

Store the granola in airtight containers at room temperature for 2 weeks, or for longer in the refrigerator.