Almond Coconut Granola

When I think back to my childhood breakfast days, I have two clear memories--one memory of a full on breakfast, with eggs, bacon, toast and grits (which my brother scarfed down while my sisters and I picked at our plates) and a second memory of a Korean cereal called Jolly Pong.  I kid not--it was a real cereal.  We didn't have commercial American cereals, which was fine with me, until I was old enough to remember our few trips to the US and the wonderland that was the cereal aisle.  Fastforward to when I was in high school, and granola became all the newest health food rage.  My concern with granola was that it had raisins and I do not like raisins--they taste JUST like what they are--moldy grapes.  I liked the idea of granola in theory but in practice, I was not impressed.

So now that I am an adult and I can choose what things I like in my granola, I have come up with my truly picky chicky recipe for granola.  The great thing about this recipe is that it is a blank canvas--add your favorite dried fruit, nuts, spices...  It's hard to mess this one up!  I got the original recipe from a Food Network chef, Marcella Vallalodid, the host of Mexican Made Easy.  I made her recipe to the "T" for the longest time until one day (which happens to be today!), I didn't.  I started tweaking it and came up with this take on homemade granola.  Let me know what you think!

Ingredients

2 cups of old fashioned oats

1 cup of slivered almonds

1/2 cup of dried cranberries

1/2 cup of dried cherries

1/4-1/2 cup of sweetened coconut flakes

1 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 tsp of salt

1/4 cup of butter

1/4 cup of honey

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp of vanilla flavoring

1/2 tsp of coconut flavoring 

Non-stick cooking spray

Preparation Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  

In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, cranberries, cherries, coconut flakes, cinnamon and salt.  Mix well to combine.  In a microwavable bowl, heat the butter, brown sugar and honey until butter is melted--about 1 minute and 45 seconds.   Remove dish from the microwave, stir well and add vanilla and coconut extracts to the honey/sugar mixture. Pour honey mixture over the oats and toss to coat well.

Spray a jelly roll pan with the non-stick cooking spray and spread oats in an even layer in the pan.  Bake at 400 F for 18-20 minutes, stirring once about half-way though the cook time.  When you pull the granola out of the oven, it will still be sticky.  Let the granola cool, and break into small chunks.  

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks and enjoy!