Granola love

This evening Mr BBB and I are 'hitting the road' and heading down to Melbourne for my Grandfather's 90th birthday and Mother's Day.

We have a little something special planned for Mother's Day, which requires, amongst other things,  a homemade granola.

Last night, after the dishes from the cauliflower and potato bake were done, I raided my pantry to see what I could come up with. The one thing that I love about granola is that you can really use anything - as long as you get that crunch from the seeds and grains, and the sweetness from the dried fruit.

I started with a base of slivered almonds, cinnamon, ground flax seeds, coconut, pepitas and sunflower seeds.

Combined with 3 cups of rolled oats.

Into the mix went apple juice, honey, agave nectar, macadamia oil and vanilla - which had been heated in a small saucepan on the stove over a low heat.

Stirred until the oats were moistened, and spread onto a lined baking tray.

Then into the oven for 30 minutes at 300F, stirring every 5 minutes, until slightly browned and crunchy.

While the granola was cooling, I put together my dried fruit mix: apples, blueberries and cranberries.

Then combined it all together.

The result? A healthy and tasty granola mix.

Now you will just have to wait and see how this granola gets used in a few days time ;)

In case you were wondering, the measurements I used were:

- 3 cups oats
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 1/3 cup coconut
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
- 1/4 cup pepitas
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- 1 tbs honey
- 2 tbs agave nectar
- 1tbs macadamia oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup each of dried apples, blueberries and cranberries

But as I said - you could really use whatever grains/seeds/fruit you have on hand.

What about you? Do you like granola? What is your favourite granola 'ingredient'?

Happy baking :)