Homemade Granola: Cranberry Spice

We love granola at our house, but it is rather expensive, so in order to get our fix, we made some homemade stuff. We've tried a bunch of different recipes and combined them to make our own. This recipe is great because it's amazingly filling (we usually eat it with Greek yogurt), and it's very versatile. If you don't like cranberries, substitute raisins or dried blueberries. If you don't like flax seed, substitute sunflower seeds. You get the idea. While it does take a little while to bake, it's very easy to make! This recipe makes about 10 cups.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 C oats (I used quick oats)
3/4 C wheat flour
1/2 C flax seeds
3/4 C coconut flakes
1 1/2 C chopped almonds
1/2 t salt (we used sea salt)
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t ginger
1/4 t ground cloves
1 stick butter
1/6 C water
2 t vanilla
1/2 C maple syrup
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 C dried cranberries (I used craisins)

Step 1: Mix together all the dry ingredients except the brown sugar and the craisins (the first 10), oats, flour, flax seeds, coconut flakes, chopped nuts, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and ground cloves. Set aside.

Step 2: Preheat your oven to 325. Take the wet ingredients, butter, water, vanilla, and maple syrup and put them in a small sauce pan. Heat on medium low until the butter is melted, then stir in the brown sugar. Heat the mixture until it just starts to boil. Remove from heat.

Step 3: Mix the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients until just combined. Spread it out on a greased edged baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes at 325. Gently stir the mixture every 15 minutes. During the last 10 minutes or so, add the crasins.

Store in an airtight container and enjoy!