Granola

I LOVE this recipe.  I found it on recipezaar.com, which I love!  I made some changes to the recipe to add more fiber and reduce sodium!  I usually make this and then mix it with vanilla yougart for a GREAT breakfast that keeps me full until lunch!  I also love that it is something you can make on Sunday and it will last you all week, making breakfast automatic as well as fast!  Make sure when you are getting ingredients that the dried fruit doesn't have any sugar in it, it was something I was surprised to find in a lot of dried fruit.  I usually use raisins and almond slivers and regular honey (hard to find sugar free honey and not cost friendly).

Ingredients
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup Wheat Bran

2 cups shredded coconut
1/2 cup sugar-free honey
1/2 cup butter (melted)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon (you can leave out) (optional)
2 cups dried fruit (no sugar added)
1/2 cup of chopped nuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.


2. Mix together in a large bowl the oats and coconut till incorporated.

3. In separate bowl mix together melted butter, honey, vanilla and cinnamon.

4. Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly; add nuts here.

5. Spread mixture evenly onto a large cookie sheet that has shallow sides.  Make sure the mix is spread evenly over entire sheet.

6. Bake for 15 minutes in oven. You want to bake the mixture until the entire mix becomes golden brown.

7. After 15 minutes take out of oven and stir well. put back in oven and watch carefully as it will darken fast. I generally cook mine about 20-25 minutes.

8. Take out of oven when the granola is golden brown. The mixture will appear wet and you will think it's not done, but as the granola cools it gets crunchy.

9. While the mixture is cooling on the baking sheet add the 2 cups of dried fruit and mix it well. The heat will help the fruit release some of it's natural flavors without drying it out.

10. After about an hour the granola will be crunchy and ready to eat!

Serving Size: 1/3cup
Calories: 101
Fat: 6.3g
Fiber: 3g
Protien: 2.5