I love to make my own granola, using all the best ingredients, eating it straight from the pan warm, mixing and matching nuts and seeds and dried fruit to create exactly what I want at that moment. I've shared my granola go-to before. But here's another recipe, sure to cheer any morning. This is often the recipe I reach for if I'm making granola to give away, because when stirred up with Ghirardelli chocolate chips and dried cherries, there's something a little decadent going on.
Makes about 9 cups.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups organic rolled oats
- 1/2 cup wheat germ
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/4 cup oil, can be coconut, sunflower, avocado
- 1/2 cup honey, local if you can get it
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1 cup chocolate chips (you can choose semi-sweet or dark chocolate; choosing a high-quality chip ups the wow factor)
- 1 1/2 cups dried fruit, cherries are wonderful; dried cranberries are a good choice, too
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two medium baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, wheat germ, nuts, coconut, and salt. Mix well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, honey, and almond extract.
- Pour liquid mixture into oat mixture and stir until all is well-combined.
- Spread evenly across baking pans. Place in center of oven.
- Stir every 15 minutes. When granola begins to turn brown and crispy, remove from oven. (About 30 minutes.)
- Mix chocolate chips into the granola while it is still warm. Let stand for 10 minutes and then mix again. The chips will melt a little, coating the granola in a layer of chocolate.
- When the granola is fully cooled, stir in dried fruit. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature.
