Why buy dry, boring granola at the supermarket when you can prepare and bake it at home in a little over an hour, choosing your favorite ingredients, and filling your home with the delicious aromas of baking granola? Visually appealing, crunchy, chewy, sweet-and-tangy, with the smell of warm spices it engages our senses. Serve it with sliced fresh fruit and milk and/or yogurt for breakfast, or eat it by the handful for a quick, flavorful, nutritious snack. This recipe is intended as a guide. Feel free to substitute your favorite nuts, seeds, or dried fruit, just don’t forget the protein and fiber-rich, cholesterol-lowering oats. How can anything that tastes so delicious to eat be so beneficial to your health? The recipe was handwritten by me in my 40-year-old copy of the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen; although I can’t find a granola recipe in the book, I attribute the inspiration for the recipe to Mollie Katzen. Use this recipe to create your own nutritious family granola tradition.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of oats (I use Quaker Oats)

• 1 cup of shredded bakers coconut (sweetened or unsweetened, your choice)

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon allspice

• ¾ cup maple syrup (or honey)

• 1/3 cup canola oil

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ½ cup chopped walnuts

• ½ cup chopped or slivered almonds

• 1/3 cup of pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or sunflower seeds

• 1/3 cup chopped Medjool dates

• 1/3 cup raisins

• 1/3 cup dried cranberries

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

1. Mix all the ingredients except the dried fruits and spread them evenly on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

2. Bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

3. Stir in the dried fruits the last 5 minutes of cooking. (Note: if you cook the dried fruit too long, the pieces turn into tooth-breaking little stones in your granola.)

4. Allow the granola to cool on the baking sheet; it will become crunchy as it cools. Once cool, store in a tightly closed container for up to several weeks.