Third time’s a charm?

This girl has a Momma who can eat the SAME thing every single day for months.  I am NOT one of those people- I am one of those people that has to keep one hundred and twelve snacks on my person at any given time just in case my mood or appetite might change and my pre-planned afternoon snack is no longer enticing.

Anyway, her current thing is granola.  Granola every morning… every. single. morning. And this isn’t something she’s been doing for months, it’s literally something that she has been doing for YEARS.

So, for Mother’s Day I decided to embark on granola.  Seems simple enough, right?  Wrong.  I literally screwed this stuff up twice before the 3rd batch finally came out correctly.  Sometimes coming up with a new recipe is like that… Fail #1: Golden raisins should not go in the oven.  Crispy raisins are not delicious.  Fail #2: Do not try and do laundry whilst toasting your nuts.  You will burn your nuts.  Alas, after 3 trips to the grocery store and countless shouted profanities, I bring you attempt #3… delicious granola goodness.

Fruit & Nut Granola

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. Almonds, Roughly Chopped
2 C. Pecans, Roughly Chopped
1/4 C. Coconut Oil
3/4 C. Honey
1.5 C. Quaker Oats (Not the instant kind)
1.25 C. Grated Coconut
1 t. Cinnamon
Pinch of Salt
Golden Raisins and Dried Blueberries to your liking

Instructions:

Choppety chop up those almonds.  Try not to let too many jump off of your cutting board in the process.

Then chop your pecans too. BTW you could use whatever your favorite nuts are… cashews or walnuts are totes fine with me.

Then throw your nuts in a cast iron (or other heavy duty pot) with the coconut oil and get those nuts toasty- about 5 minutes on medium heat should do the trick.

Yummers.

Pull the nuts from the heat and let them cool down a bit.  The coconut oil, almonds and pecans are going to make your kitchen smell SOOOOOOO good at this point.  Then your cinnamon gets thrown in and it’s going to be good smells overload.  Add that salt too ;)

And then your honey gets added to the mix!

Then throw in the coconut flakes… Many yum points.

And your oats.  Voila, it just became a health food.  Because oats are healthy, duh.

Find a handsome man to stir for you.  He’s the cutest, right?

So it’s not going to be super  sloppy at this point, but it should be pretty moist.  Heat your oven to 325 degrees!

Spread the mixture evenly on a cookie sheet and throw it in the oven for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, stir the mixture so it doesn’t burn on the bottom, and put it back in for another 10 minutes.

When it comes out the last time you can sprinkle your blueberries and golden raisins on top and let the granola cool completely!

It’s SO pretty, right?  Wait patiently… it takes a long time to cool.

Did I take a close up?  Duh. Too pretty not to.

Then using a metal spatula and all your arm muscles, scrape it off your cookies sheet and break it apart as much, or as little, as your heart desires.

A little ribbon goes a long way, my friend.

Mangia!