Almond and vanilla granola

Lately I have been craving granola. Seriously, I’ve been eating it every day for the past week. There is so much you can do with it, it’s great. When you say homemade granola some people may think of the boring plain honey granola but that doesn’t have to be the case. When making granola at home the possibilities are endless. For example, peanut butter and chocolate granola, granola infused with the flavors of many berries, or the classic almond and vanilla granola. 

Ingredients

• 2 and 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch salt (about 1/8 teaspoon)
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

• Preheat oven to 300°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Toss the oats, almonds, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the maple syrup and coconut oil together until combined. Whisk in the almond and vanilla extracts. Drizzle over the oats and toss to coat. Make sure all of the oats are moistened.
• Spread onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Allow granola to cool completely. The cool air will help give the granola a nice crunchy texture.