Absolutely Scrumptious Granola

Last night I made granola so that we have tasty, homemade snacks to keep us walking along during out trek through the Lake District.  It was my first time making granola, but luckly it is really easy to make and turned out delicious!

Olive Oil Cranberry Granola
6 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups pistachios, de-shelled with as much of the husk taken off as possible
1 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cup real maple syrup (the fake stuff will taste strange)
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp plus a pinch cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

2-3 cups dried cranberries
1 cup dried apricots, chopped into smaller pieces
Any other fruit that you want to add in.

1. Preheat oven to 300* F
2. In BIG bowl (I used a giant wooden salad bowl, but if you don't have one, split everything in half) combine everything but the fruit and mix together well.  Make sure that all of the dry ingredients are well coated with the wet ingredients and that the spices are evenly distributed.
3. Spread thinly of a rimmed baking sheets (I needed two big rectangular ones and a round pizza one to fit it all), and bake for 45-50 min or until lightly browned and crispy.  Stir every ten minutes.
4. Remove from oven when done cooking and transfer immediately to a bowl.  If left in the pan, the granola will begin to stick
5. Add fruit

As long as you stick to the basic proportions between wet and dry ingredients and make sure you use old fashioned rolled oats, you can easily play around with the recipe, adding the nuts, seeds, and fruit that you want.  Enjoy!