Maple Cherry Granola #recipe @lucyburdette

 LUCY BURDETTE: For Thanksgiving this year I ordered a big container of pure maple sugar for Melissa Clark’s Maple Ginger Pecan Galette. (Which was delicious by the way! And I don’t even like pecan pie all that much.) Anyway, I am left with a large quantity of the maple sugar and I intend to work my way through it. I’ve made granola for a number of years, but the recipe I’ve used had quite a bit of salt and sweetener in it. This time I updated the recipe using maple sugar for a little burst of flavor, applesauce instead of some of the sugar, and no salt. This version tasted quite delicious and I offer it to you.

Ingredients:

5 cups rolled oats

2 cups slivered almonds

2 cups broken pecan pieces

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup maple sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup (use the real stuff!)

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup dried cherries or raisins 

Preheat the oven to 300. Mix oats, almonds, pecans, sugar, and coconut in a bowl. Combine syrup, oil and applesauce, and then mix into the grains and nuts. Spread the uncooked granola on baking trays. Bake for an hour and fifteen minutes, stopping every 15 minutes to stir the mixture so it browns evenly. Cool and add cherries. Store in an airtight container, but don't expect it to last very long. It also freezes well. Serve with milk or yogurt and fruit.

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mysteries! The ebook versions of THE KEY LIME CRIME, DEATH ON THE MENU, and A DEADLY FEAST are on sale this month...

#11 in the series, A SCONE OF CONTENTION, is coming on August 10, and available for pre-order now!