Cherry Almond Granola

Since I've had a few requests for this recipe lately, I thought I would make it my first post. Making granola is so easy...you wont be able to buy it after you start making it! And, its so fun to try different things, depending on what's in your cupboard. This recipe is a variation of a recipe I clipped years ago from a newspaper. (Before the days of Googling recipes!) You can substitute all sorts of yummy things into it of course, but this is my favorite version. Enjoy!

Recipe makes 2 Quarts (about 8 cups)

Heat oven to 275 degrees. Mix the following in a very large bowl:

4 C rolled oats
1 C wheat germ
4 Tbs. sucunat (or brown sugar)
1/2 tsp salt
1 C sliced almonds

Bring the following to a low boil, stirring, and immediately turn down to simmer for 2 minutes,
then turn heat off:

1/2 C real maple syrup (or honey)
6 Tbs. coconut oil
1 1/2 tsps. almond extract
2 Tbs. water

1 C dried cherries

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix. Should be clumpy! Lightly grease two cookie sheets. Divide the granola between the pans and place into heated oven,
middle rack. Bake for 30 min. Remove and stir the granola a bit, adding the cherries. Bake another 20 min. After the 20 min, turn oven off, open the oven door part way and leave the granola in until cool. This will make it nice and crunchy! After it cools, put in airtight container. Stays yummy for about a week...if it lasts that long!

Substitutions:
For almonds: pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, other nuts...
For cherries: coconut, raisins, dried cranberries, blueberries
For almond extract: vanilla extract, ginger, allspice, etc...

*Update: My original recipe called for canola oil, but my reading over the last year has convinced me that coconut oil is a much better choice....read here if you are interested! I also revised the brown sugar with sucanat....again, to up the nutritional impact.