Healthy Homemade Granola

Hello everyone! I hope you are staying warm and having a great weekend. I apologize for the lack of postings recently. This week has been crazy with getting everything together for my grandmothers funeral. Yesterday was the funeral and it ended up being a long day. 

After coming home and changing into comfy sweats I decided to whip up a batch of healthy granola. I wanted a healthy snack and baking is good therapy for me. Does anyone else find baking extremely relaxing? I had all the ingredients on hand and the granola turned out so delicious, and it made the whole house smell heavenly!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar 
• 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil, can substitute vegetable or canola oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 2 1/3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 3 tablespoons chia seeds
• 3 cups dried fruit, nuts, and seeds
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large mixing bowl combine oats, cinnamon, chia seeds, dried fruit, nuts, and seeds. Use a large spoon and mix all ingredients together. I used almonds, dried cherries, dried cranberries, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and a few other varieties of seeds.

In a separate small mixing bowl add honey/agave, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and peanut butter. Mix ingredients together and microwave for thirty seconds. Stir very well after microwaving.

Carefully pour melted ingredients into dry ingredients. 

Using a spatula toss until all dry ingredients are coated. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

Once cool toss in chocolate chips and mix well.

Line a baking sheet with tinfoil or grease the baking sheet. Using a spatula scoop ingredients out of mixing bowl onto baking sheet. Use either the spatula or your hands and press the granola down, evenly spreading throughout the baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Check after 20 minutes. When the top is golden it is done.

Allow to cool overnight, or a for a few hours, and then break or cut apart. Store in an airtight container for up to three weeks.