Maple Brown Sugar Granola

When I went gluten free for about a year, I discovered how ridiculously expensive this diet can be.  I mean, really? $5 to $8 for a 12oz bag of granola!  Don't get me wrong, I know that nuts and dried fruit aren't cheap by any means but come on! So I came up with my own granola recipe (a combination of about a dozen recipes I tried) that seemed more cost effective, tasted far more fresh and that I absolutely adore.

It's good with fresh fruit and yogurt, on top of vanilla ice cream or simply drowning in milk.

3 cups of rolled oats (Gluten-free, if preferred)
2 cups of nuts (slivered almonds, chopped pecans, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts or whatever you have on hand)
1 cup of shredded coconut (I use unsweetened shaved coconut, but either will do)
1/3 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2-1 teaspoon salt (I'm a salt fiend)
1-1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries or cherries. Or a combination!)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together oats, nuts, coconut and sugar.  Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together syrup, oil, cinnamon and salt. Coat oat mixture with syrup/oil mixture and toss to combine.   Pour onto one large baking sheet with sides or two smaller sheets in one layer.  Bake for 1-1 1/2 hours, tossing/stirring every 15 minutes until golden brown.

Cool and mix in dried fruit. Store in air tight container.

Make this recipe your own by adding seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, flax etc.) or other mix-ins.