June and Carol made a big batch of Fruity Maple Pecan Granola for the seniors kitchen. The granola is used as topping for the Honey Pear Parfaits. Everyone gets to bring home some granola as we made a triple batch of the recipe. The South Arm Cooking Club for seniors always double or triple the recipes. This way the seniors get to bring something home. Stella often reminds the seniors to bring back the reusable containers so that they can bring something home in the next meeting.

I love this Fruity Maple Pecan Granola. It is very nutty and crispy. I munch on it as snacks and it’s a less guilty kind of snack. This is a fiber rich snacks.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

• 5 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups pecan pieces
• 1/2 cup hulled pumpkin seeds (I believed we substituted with sun flower seeds)
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup flax seeds
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup dates
• 1/2 cup dried apricots (we substituted the dates and apricot with dried cranberries)
• 1 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as canola or sunflower

Set the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat the oven to 300F,In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients well.

Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, stirring until completely combined.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, tossing and stirring until evenly coated.

Spread the mixture evenly on two rimmed baking sheets. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until evenly golden brown. Set timer to go off every 15 minutes while the granola bakes, so you can rotate the pans and give the granola a good stir; this helps it cook evenly.We should have leave the dried cranberries out of the baking process and stir them in after the baking so that the dried cranberries stays moist and supple. The baked dried cranberries are a little chewy.