While in search of the perfect granola recipe for us, I discovered Sarah's blog through Liesl's 3 Question series.

Yesterday I tried her recipe for Maple Cinnamon Granola with only slight hesitation at the inclusion of cinnamon. I've been looking for a healthy, tasty granola to pair nicely with my homemade yogurt & a drizzle of honey (my favorite snack ever!) and the idea of cinnamon just didn't seem to fit the bill - at least in my mind. I've always thought of cinnamon as more a holiday flavor and pairing with sugar & sweets. But I decided to try it anyway since my last two batches have been quite dull in flavor. I also omitted the water she called for and added an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract instead. :)

Fresh out of the oven & cooling.

So far the flavor is smokey & delicious (I licked the spoon after pouring it into the baking sheet) and the sweet maple aroma is just starting to waft from the oven. I'm so excited to try this latest batch with my yogurt. The only downside is I'm almost out of dried cherries!

Recipe:
5 cups rolled thick oats
2 Tbs whole flax seed
2 Tbs wheat bran
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted almonds (I would have added a whole cup but this is all I had today)

1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup applesauce, homemade so it has a few chunks in it
3 tsp vanilla extract

Mix oats, flax, wheat bran, cinnamon, salt & almonds together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix syrup, applesauce and vanilla together. Pour wet over dry ingredients, being sure the oats are fully coated. Pour onto a greased baking sheet in an even layer. Bake at 325*F for about 30 minutes (until oats are golden brown & no longer wet), stirring about every 10 minutes.

While cooling, add in 1 1/2 cups unsalted peanuts and 1 cup dried cherries. Stir occasionally while cooling. Store in an airtight container.

Loose granola has been on my DIY list ever since I discovered how much I like it with yogurt. Especially greek yogurt. Now, I can finally say I made some!

I used this recipe as a base for my jumping off point.

In a large bowl, I mixed together:
3c rolled oats (because I didn't have old fashion)
1/2c unsalted peanuts
1/2c unsalted almonds
2 Tbs flax seeds (mine are whole, but most recipes call for ground flax)

In a separate measuring cup, I used the microwave to assist melting together:
1/4c applesauce (mine is homemade, so I know it is only apples & a dash of water)
1/4c peanut butter

Then stirred in:
1 1/2 Tbs honey
**I wanted to include 1-2 tsp vanilla extract but I forgot to add it.

I poured the melted mixture over the dry ingredients and mixed until fully coated.

Spread out on a parchment lined cookie sheet. The thinner the better. It will roast a little quicker, especially at the edges so be sure to "stir" or disturb it so as to work the edge pieces toward the middle and vice versa.

Bake at 300-350*F, setting the timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, give it a good stir and bake another 10 minutes. My first batch was thicker so I baked it for 10+10+5 (25 minutes). The second batch was much thinner, baking for 10+10 (20 minutes).

Allow to cool (I only had enough parchment for one baking sheet so I cooled the first batch in a glass bowl) and mix in:
1/2 - 3/4c dried cherries

After roasting and allowing the granola to cool, I can definitely tell it is missing some flavor. I stirred in the dried cherries while it cooled which helped add a little zip to it, but I think 2 tsp or 1 Tbs vanilla extract would really help bring out some more flavor in this granola.

Now I'm off to try a cup of homemade yogurt with some of this new granola. :)

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