Homemade Granola

Today is my mom's 50th birthday. She's a feisty, sarcastic little one. She gave me a love of trees, campfires, long drives, and sunshine.  I can't believe she's 50. You wouldn't either if you met her.

She lives clear across the country and I wanted to send her something homemade for her birthday but cupcakes don't travel well and it would have cost $46 to overnight something to her. When I saw "Elvis Granola" over at Eat, Live, Run I knew I had struck gold. The recipe needed a little tweaking, though. Elvis was known for his love of peanut butter and banana sandwiches. 

So I used ground flax and chunky peanut butter like the recipe called for but exchanged the sunflower seeds for pecans and dark chocolate for dried bananas. 

This recipe is super simple, and you can swap out the ingredients for what you like. This makes about 8 cups, or 1 pound of prepared granola. Its an excellent alternative to sugar and preservative filled breakfast cereal and snack bars.

Granola

• 3 tablespoons Coconut Oil or Canola/Vegetable Oil (if you hate coconut like me)
• 1/3 cup Maple Syrup
• 1/3 cup Chunky Peanut Butter 
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 4 cup Old Fashioned Oats (not quick cooking) 
• ¼ cup Ground Flax Seeds
• ½ cup Raw Pecans
• ½ cup Dried Banana Slices

Preheat oven to 275  degrees.

Put oil, syrup, peanut butter, and cinnamon in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat, stirring constantly until ingredients are heated and smooth. DO NOT allow to boil.

Combine oats, flax, and pecans in a large bowl. Add heated liquid mixture and stir to coat. 

Spread mixture thinly on one rimmed half sheet (or two if you sheets are small). Bake in the oven, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes or until pieces are crispy. Remove from the oven and stir in banana pieces.

Enjoy with someone you love - even if you're thousands of miles from each other! Here's to at least 50 more years with my own mama! A big shout out to her photography as evidenced in the first photo!