Coconut and Dried Fruit Vegan and Gluten Free Granola



Making your own granola is easy but making granola that tastes as good as the store-bought stuff that is full of sugary additives is a little bit harder. For anyone who is trying to lead a life full of homemade food and free of white sugar and other additives that can take nutritional value away, making your own vegan granola is an excellent way to know what exactly you are eating. Plus, breakfast is the most important meal of the day so starting out with a nice homemade parfait with coconut granola is a way better thing to eat than a big old bowl of processed cereal.

Ingredients:
1 ½ Cups of Gluten Free Rolled Oats
½ Cup of Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
½ Cup of Raw Almonds, Chopped
½ Cup of Raw Pecans, Halved
1 Tablespoon of Coconut Sugar
½ Teaspoon of Sea Salt
3 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil
⅓ Cup of Maple Syrup
1 Teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract
¼ Cup of Dried Fruit (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, etc.)
Method:
To make granola nice and crunchy it has to be baked which means the first thing that needs to be done is to have the oven preheated to 325 degree Fahrenheit. Once this step is complete it is time to combine the granola mixture.
Grab a large mixing bowl and pour the oats, coconut flakes, chopped almonds, halved pecans, coconut sugar, and salt into the bowl. If you have bought nuts that are whole you will need to chop these up to a size that you like. Stir everything together. Next, you will need to select a medium sized saucepan. Once you have the saucepan, set it on your stove top and pour the maple syrup and the coconut oil inside. Turn the heat up to medium and stir the contents until they have melted and are combined. Then add the vanilla and using a whisk make sure it is all combined and smooth.
Coconut and Dried Fruit Vegan and Gluten Free Granola

Now pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix it all together making sure that the nuts are well-coated. Finally, grab a baking tray and line it with parchment paper to avoid the granola from sticking to it while it bakes. Put the granola on the sheet and smooth it down to create a uniform layer. Then place it in in the oven on the middle rack and let it bake for around 20 minutes or until it is just toasted. Remove the tray from the oven, sprinkle in the dried fruit and let the whole thing cool before storing it in an airtight container.