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Pecan Raisin Granola

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Total Time 32 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 cup pecans
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup runny honey
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon flax seeds
  • 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C.
  2. Prepare an edged half sheet pan by lining it with parchment paper. This makes transferring the baked granola into an airtight container so much easier. Does parchment paper make you crazy? After tearing off your sheet, crumple it up in a ball, then spread it back out. It will be much easier to manipulate into the corners of your pan.
  3. Put all your ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer, or into a large mixing bowl. I like the order listed above because it minimizes dishes. If you use this order, you can use the same tablespoon for the flax seeds, cinnamon, and vanilla, but you won't get cinnamon in your flax seed container or have the cinnamon sticking to the residual vanilla. The canola oil should help the honey slide out of your measuring cup, too.
  4. Mix well, and you can decide how well based on how broken up you like your pecans.
  5. Spread evenly onto your prepared half sheet pan.
  6. Bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like your granola (and how hot your oven runs). Stir, then bake for 10 more minutes, keeping an eye on it so it doesn't begin to burn.
  7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely (I leave mine for a few hours), then transfer to an airtight container.

Recipe Notes

This is of course delicious over yogurt, but it's also really good in small quantities in a salad that needs a little flavor kick. I also quite enjoy it over a bowl of cheerios. And I won't lie that sometimes it's the perfect dessert in a small bowl, eaten plain. While this is my version of choice, you can of course play around with the add-ins. I occasionally use chopped dried apricots instead of the raisins, but add them halfway through the cooking time, else I find they burn. Dried unsweetened cranberries also work well. A bit of cardamom is another nice addition, but I wouldn't go too crazy (anything more than 1/4 tsp overwhelms for me). I'm sure you could use almonds or hazelnuts in place of the pecans, but why you would ever substitute for a roasted pecan is beyond me.