Mary’s Holiday Gift Granola

Like all great recipes, the granola we enjoyed at Mary’s in Lake Havasu City has evolved over the years. I loved it so much I persuaded Mary to give me the recipe to share (and to make when we finally have a real kitchen). The original recipe is below in plain text, with Mary’s tweaks and adjustments in bold. Granola is as much a personal preference as anything, so use this as a base to create your own perfect blend so you can stop buying that expensive stuff at Whole Foods.

Holiday Gift Granola

1/2 C vegetable oil (canola)
1/4 C maple syrup
1 C brown sugar (substitute 1/2 C dark brown sugar)
6 C old fashioned oats, not instant (substitute 2 C oats, 2 C rolled barley, 2 C rolled wheat)
2 C walnuts, chopped (substitute 1 C walnuts, chopped, and 1 C pecans, chopped, or just pecans)
1 C wheat germ
1 C ground flax seed
1 C sweetened coconut (or 1/2 C sweetened and 1/2 C unsweetened)
1 C sunflower seeds (raw are best, I add some sesame seeds sometimes too) (later note: I don’t use these anymore)
1 C raisins and 1 C dried cranberries or dried cherries (I like dried cherries and cranberries, no raisins) (be careful not to over-fruit)

Preheat oven to 350 (325), spray two or three sheet pans with Pam (no Pam, it doesn’t stick)

In a sauce pan, heat syrup, brown sugar, and oil until sugar is dissolved. Mix the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT dried fruit in bowl. Pour oil/sugar mixture over top. Stir well. Spread evenly on the sheet pans.

Bake 10 minutes, stir, switch pans top to bottom in oven, bake 8 to 10 minutes more. (Watch closely, can burn if your oven has hot spots.  I bake at 325, a little longer).

Cool, stir in dried fruit.