Fruits and Nut Granola

One of the thing that I love to munch on whenever I am hungry are nuts and fruits.  On the other hand, I had these old fashioned oatmeal that I got sometime back to make cranberry walnut bread which has been lying around ever since. So, what would be the best thing to do...GRANOLA of course.  I just cannot resist the combination of nuts, fruit and oats. These granola are super chewy. After cooling and cutting them into bars, I put them in a airtight container and popped them in the refrigerator. Hope you would enjoy them as much as I do...

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ingredients

2 cups oats
3/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup nuts ( pecan, walnut, peanuts, cashewnut, almond), chop them a bit
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
4 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp  salt
approximately 8 oz. dried fruit ( cranberries, raisin, dried blueberry, dried pineapple)

Method

• To crush your peanuts, put them in a plastic bag and smash them with a heavy mallet, measuring cup, or sauce pan.
• Then, mix the peanuts, oats, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds in a baking dish with sides. Toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes so that they don’t get burned.
• Meanwhile, prepare a glass baking dish (about 11 x 13 inches) for your granola by lining it with waxed paper lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray.
• Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. (I forgot to take a picture of this step, but it looks so pretty!)
• By now, your grains and nuts should be toasted, so mix everything together in a large bowl. The grains, the liquid “glue,” and the dried fruit.
• Mix everything REALLY WELL because you want to make sure the “glue” gets all over everything. Now, dump your granola mixture into your prepared baking dish.
• Spread out the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula.
• Press hard all over, you want to make sure its all compact.
• Leave it aside to cool completely for about 2-3 hours.
• Cut them by pressing them firmly down with a knife (not sawing) . Cut them in whatever size bar you want.
• You can either pack them individually in a plastic wrap or just put them in a airtight container between sheets of wax paper so that they dont stick together.