Easy Maple Granola Recipe!

Easy Maple Granola Recipe & images by Benji Nichols, Inspire(d) Media 2016

There are few things that smell more heavenly than granola baking in your oven. We had the fun experience of having a surplus of real maple syrup in the pantry, which acted as the catalyst for developing this recipe. Whether you’re snacking away, packing on the go, or topping your favorite yogurt or ice cream snack – this is an easy, fun, relatively healthy granola recipe that you can tweak to the liking of your friends and family.

Don’t be afraid to add or subtract ingredients (like the shredded coconut – or types of nuts) to suit your granola tastes. The wheat germ acts as a nice intermediary and binder, but isn’t necessary if you can’t find it in the store or have eaters with wheat sensitivity (we buy it in bulk at our local Coop). This recipe easily doubles, but you will need to either use 2 baking sheets, or adjust the baking time. If you start to smell an overly ‘toasted’ smell in the final half of baking, pull the granola right away. Overall, this recipe is incredibly giving – and forgiving! Don’t forget to share…

Easy Maple Granola Recipe:

Dry Ingredients:

2 Cups rolled oats
1/2 Cup Pecans or walnuts
1/4 Cup Almonds
1/3 Cup Wheat Germ
1 Tablespoon Pepitas (dried pumpkin seeds)
1 Tablespoon shredded coconut (optional)
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/3 Cup (real) maple syrup
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil (melted but not hot)
1 egg white (optional)

Add Later:

1/2 Cup Dried Cranberry (chopped)

Directions:

Mix all dry ingredients together, set aside.

Combine all wet ingredients. The egg white is optional and acts as a binder that will allow the granola to have more clusters in final form. If you choose to add the egg white, make sure that the coconut oil is not too warm (to avoid cooking the egg white).

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until dry ingredients are evenly coated. Spread out onto either lightly oiled, parchment, or (our favorite) silicone sheet (Silpat) covered baking sheet.

Bake 325 degrees for 30 minutes, stir/turn the granola with spatula, bake an additional 20 minutes and let cool. Granola will not get crisp until it cools.

Once granola is mostly cooled (or as long as you can stand it) add the chopped cranberries and gently stir to mix evenly. Once fully cooled, store in an airtight container  – if you really want to go over the top, throw a few chocolate chips in once cool. Lasts easily up to 2 weeks (Yeah, right! It’ll be gone long before then!!!)

Enjoy!