Almond Granola with Dried Fruit

Recently I decided regular cereal no longer sounded good. I have no real explanation for this. I just woke up one morning and felt like I wanted a simple cereal without anything artificial in it. So I made granola. Story of my life - there's no explaining sudden cravings.

Have you ever made granola before? It's extremely easy to make. It's my favorite kind of recipe: dump it all in a bowl, mix it around, bake it, eat it. It's deliciously crunchy, filling, and wholesome . . . and before the sound of "filling and wholesome" makes some of you roll your eyes in a disinterested huff, let me just say: I will be making some homemade donuts soon to make up for it. Promise.

This is, of course, an America's Test Kitchen recipe. I'm going to be posting way over my fair share of them in the near future because I packed up the other thirty-odd cookbooks I have in a recent bout of obsessive spring cleaning and they're the only ones that survived the packing purge. Prepare yourselves.

Almond Granola with Dried Fruit
Adapted from The Best of America's Test Kitchen (2013)
Makes about 9 Cups

1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) packed light brown sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups (10 ounces) whole raw almonds, chopped coarse
2 cups (10 ounces) raisins or other dried fruit, chopped as needed

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Use parchment paper to line a baking sheet. Combine maple syrup, sugar, vanilla, and salt, then pour in oil while mixing. Mix in oats and almonds, and stir around until the mixture is homogenous.

Dump on to baking sheet and use a spatula to spread evenly, then press all over the mixture. Bake for about 40 minutes or until golden, then let cool on a wire rack. Transfer to storage container and mix  in dried fruit.