Honey Nut Granola with Dried Fruit

Honey and brown sugar sweetened granola with dried cranberries and apricots as well as raisins.

While I'm being much better about bringing lunch from home, I want to incorporate breakfast. I know I feel better when I have breakfast, but I tend to sleep as late as humanly possible before rushing to work, a genetic trait inherited from my XY side. This recipe turned up in my latest Cooking Club magazine, so I figured it would be a good start for breakfast.  If push comes to shove, I can eat it straight from a bowl without milk or yogurt.

Honey Nut Granola with Dried Fruit

3 c old-fashioned oats
1/2 c slivered almonds, coarsely chopped

1/2 c shelled sunflower seeds

1/2 c flax seeds, preferably golden
1/2 c sesame seeds (I only had toasted)
1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 c honey
6 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 c dried cranberries
2/3 c golden raisins
2/3 c chopped dried apricots

Heat oven to 350ºF.

Combine oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds and coconut in large bowl.


Heat honey, oil, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in small saucepan over medium-low to medium heat 5 minutes or until sugar is melted and mixture is well-blended, stirring occasionally.


Stir into oat mixture until moistened; spread on parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet.

Bake 20 minutes or until light golden brown, stirring once halfway through. Cool completely in pan on wire rack, about 1 hour (mixture will crisp as it cools).

I forgot to stir half-way through, so after baking 20 minutes, I stirred the granola well and smooshed it back out evenly on the baking sheet while hot and then allowed it to cool 1 full hour.

Break into bite-size chunks; stir in dried fruit. (Granola can be made 1 week ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.)

I was a little skeptical about the granola crisping as it cooled, but it was true, it happened! I was able to pick up sheets of granola and had to break them in order to get it to fit in the Tupperware container.  And it tasted really good. Just slightly sweet and not too nutty or healthy, if you know what I mean.

Cost, as usual, is for what I bought and have pricing for.  Everything else I already had; to make total cost a decent approximation, I'll assume I used everything I bought which will cover the cost of everything I already had.  This approximation is going to be on the high side since the stuff I had to buy was pretty pricey. 

• oats: $2.50
• almonds: $7.99
• sunflower seeds: $4.29
• flax seeds: $3.49
• apricots: $2.49

Total: $20.76.  Ouch.  I didn't think it would be that much.  It does make each of the 20 half-cup servings $1.04 each.

I'll be more conscious to include quantities (ounces etc) of items I buy to get more accurate prices in the future. 

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