Homemade Granola

My friend, Cara gave me this recipe right before Christmas and it has quickly became my breakfast staple.  Not only is it easy to make but it tastes just as good or better than store-bought granola.

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups raw pistachios, hulled

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, hulled

1 cup coconut chips

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 

2. In a large bowl, combine oats, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, coconut chips, maple syrup, olive oil, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. 

3. Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and well toasted.

Yield: About 9 cups.

* I could not find raw pistachios this week, so I replaced them with raw almonds.  The mix turned out just as good.

** Since pure maple syrup is so expensive, I have been replacing it with equal amounts of agave nectar.

*** Maybe it's just my crappy oven, but the first time I made this recipe, the granola ended up burning after only about 20 min. at 300 degrees so now I bake the granola for about a half hour at 275 degrees, mixing several times before turning it up to 300 degrees to brown the oats.  Since every oven is different make sure to check the mix often.

**** My favorite way to eat the granola is with greek yogurt, some extra agave nectar and dried cranberries.  When I was visiting Cara, we ate it in soy milk, which I am not normally a fan of, but the added sweetness of the soy milk was really delicious with the granola and it kept its crunchiness.