Granola

I have been very absent from the kitchen lately due to my day job and required travel.  Coming home, I am ready for fall.  I love fall!  There is nothing better than cool days, a warm sweater and warming everyone you love from the inside-out.  One thing that definitely speaks fall to me is maple syrup, so the recipe today is homemade granola.

I love granola and had assumed it was a thing of the past when I went off of gluten.  Much to my delight, I discovered gluten free oats and made some delicious granola at home.  Homemade granola, warm from the oven is divine.  If all you have had is that dried out stuff that costs a fortune from the store, you are missing out.  Once you have made your own granola, you will never buy it again- trust me!

Granola
3 cups gluten free rolled oats
1 cup Irish oats
1 cup natural almonds
1 cup cashews
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup other dried fruit of your choice (I like mixing cranberries and blueberries)
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted (for dairy free, use 1/2 cup canola oil)
1/3-1/2 cup good quality maple syrup

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Spray a large sheet pan with nonstick spray.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Add the maple syrup until the mixture is slightly moist through out, but not saturated.  Spread mixture out evenly on sheet pan.  Bake for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, turning the mixture with a spatula every 20 minutes until mixture is an even color.

Let cool in sheet pan.  The mixture crisps as it cools.  When cool, use a spatula to scrape granola from pan and break it into chunks.  Store in an airtight container.  Enjoy granola atop Greek yogurt with fruit.