Cinnamon Raisin Granola

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but I love cinnamon. Also, raisins, the original favorite dried fruit. I love mixing the combination into oatmeal and of course adding cinnamon to oatmeal raisin cookies. I’ve never tried making granola before, and couldn’t believe how easy it was. With the honey and brown sugar, this isn’t the healthiest snack, but it is very filling. I love eating it dry for a snack, or with cold milk or yogurt. With a little warm milk, this would make a great cold weather snack.

CINNAMON RAISIN GRANOLA Quick and easy homemade granola Prep time: 10 minutes Bake time:  30 minutes INGREDIENTS: 3 cups old fashion or steel cut oats 1 1/2 cup raisins 1 cup sliced or slivered almonds 1/4 cup ground flax seed 1 tbsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. nutmeg a pinch of salt 1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup grape seed oil (you could also use coconut or canola) 1/4 cup brown sugar DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 300F and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Once again, grind the flax seed. A coffee grinder would be ideal for this, but I used a food processor/blender. It took a little more patience and stirring but still worked well. Combine the oats, raisins, almonds, flax seed, cinnamon, nutmeg and sea salt in an over-sized bowl. In a small saucepan and over medium-low heat, combine the oil, honey and brown sugar. Stir frequently until the brown sugar starts to dissolve, this should take no more than 5 minutes; do not bring to a boil. Pour the hot sugar mixture over the oat mixture and stir. This isn’t something you would need a mixer for. Just a few quick stirs to make sure everything is coated and you’re good to go. Spread the oat mixture on the parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes. After the initial 15 minutes, stir/flip/turn the granola. Check and turn the granola every 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Mine was done in 30 minutes, but I have a gas oven- which can be a little dryer of a heat. Let cool. I left mine on the cookie sheet for a few hours. NOTES: Deciding when the granola was done was probably the hardest part of this process with all the cinnamon in there. I taste tested each time I pulled the pan out and stopped when the granola started to reach a crunchy consistency.                                                                                                     Hope you Enjoy!