Christmas Granola

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Homemade granola isn't just for the holidays, but this Christmas Granola takes my regular recipe and adds everything festive and Christmasy! With lots of almonds and pecans, green pumpkin seeds, red dried cranberries, a few mini white chocolate chips and almond extract to give it that signature holiday feel, it's perfect for gifting!

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 15

Total Time1 30

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: pint jars

Calories: 715kcal

Author: Meryl Downing

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

5 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup pecans
¾ cup pumpkin seeds (raw pepitas)
1 cup coconut flakes (or shredded)

Wet Ingredients

½ cup avocado oil (or coconut oil melted)
½ cup honey (or maple syrup)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add after Baking

1 cup dried cranberries
¼ cup mini white chocolate chips optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 250℉.
Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix.
Add all wet ingredients to a small bowl or glass measuring cup and whisk with a fork.
Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix very well with a spatula. Pour and spread out onto 2 large baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 75 minutes without flipping or checking. Then turn the oven off but leave the granola in for 2 or 3 hours or until cooled.
Add dried cranberries and mini white chocolate chips. Break up the granola into clusters, and store or gift in jars.

Notes

Use Parchment Paper - It's important so the granola doesn't stick to the pan and easy for clean up! I usually don't even wash the pans, and the parchment paper can be reused a few times for granola. Don't use eco-style parchment paper, it sticks and tears into small pieces!
Don't Skip the Salt - It really adds big flavor and gives that salty sweet balance.
Don't Mix while Baking - A lot of granola recipes will have you tossing and flipping every 15 minutes. You don't need to do this, and it actually prevents the nice big clusters from forming. The oven is set low at 250, so just leave it, no checking needed!
Leave it in the Oven to Cool - After the timer is up, just turn off the oven and leave the granola in. Again, this helps the clusters form, it's fine to forget about it all day or at least a few hours! Then add the cranberry and chocolate chips and break it up to store.
Recipe makes 8 pint size jars for gifting!
Nutrition Info is for 1 pint jar of granola.

Nutrition