Fair warning: this granola is so delicious it will be hard to go back to store bought after making it!! This is the perfect topping for Greek Yogurt with a dollop of Taste Preserved Fruit Spreads mixed in; so good you'll forget it's not loaded with sugar!

Ingredients

• 5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 cups almonds or pecans (really any nuts or seeds or a mixture of both)
• 1/3 c. ground flax seed
• 1/3 c. chia seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Morton kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional, adds a warm fall flavor)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350⁰F on convection bake. Prep the largest cookie sheet you have with either a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

In a food processor, chop up the nuts coarsely, then add to a large mixing bowl. Add half of the oats to the food processor and give them a few pulses to chop up slightly as well. Add the chopped oats as well as the unchopped oats to the large mixing bowl with the nuts. Add in the flax seed, chia seeds, salt and cinnamon to the mixing bowl and combine well.

In a glass measuring cup or separate small bowl, add coconut oil, honey or maple syrup and vanilla, stir to combine slightly. Add this wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix to combine.

Spread out to an even thickness on the lined cookie sheet and put into the preheated oven for 12 mins. Take out and scrape the bottom then spread out again. Put back into the oven to cook for another 8 to 10 mins. It should look very lightly brown, but not golden brown. Take it out of the oven and let it cool completely on the cookie sheet, around 30 to 45 mins; this will finish cooking the oats. Store in an air tight container (an old nut container or glass container) for up to 2 weeks on the shelf.

I've adapted Meg Gordan’s granola for this recipe, adjusting it to my family's liking. Once you've made it, I encourage you to adjust it to your liking using whatever nuts, sweetener and other add-ins you prefer!