Make-It-Yourself-Monday….”Good Gravy, thats GREAT Granola!”

I have a confession to make.

Today’s post was SO fun, SO addicting, and SO easy that I simply replaced what I was REALLY going to write about today with this.

Seriously.

Not only does it have pictures to make it easy on you wonderful people who hate to read through directions, but just the sight of the finished product will make you grab your keys and run to the store. Or the pantry. 

Just depends on what you have in your house and storage.

For those of you who don’t dehydrate, and who don’t understand why I do, this post is for you. If you have NEVER had a fresh-from-the-dehydrator piece of dried pineapple, peach, apple chip or kiwi slice, I feel so SO sorry for you. You want to talk about fabulous taste? Or how your house smells like you are  baking 4 or 5 different kinds of amazing pies at once?

Yep. All with that awesome dehydrator.

I am a dehydrator junkie.

Dried foods are super easy to keep, and super easy to use. They take up less space that canning, and depending on how creative you are (or if you read the blog of someone who is super creative *ahem*), you would be stunned at the versatility of dried foods as an additive to your pantry.

SO—-a couple months ago someone on one of my favorite pages on FB was going on and on about dried pineapple, and/or tropical fruit salad that she had dried. Since my dehydrator and I have a rhythm that we go through every year, and drying canned fruits has never really been on my mind, I shelved the idea until I came across the bulk foods aisle at a local grocery.
One good look, and I had a newly adopted, bouncing, 6 lbs+ can of pineapple tidbits in my cart and headed to its home.

 

24 hours of everyone asking me what I was baking, and 9 lovely full trays of dried pineapple later, I stuffed in it a jar, wrapped it in chains, put warning signs on the cupboard, asked my closest friends to pray I would resist temptation, and desperately tried to come up with a recipe that would use this stuff before we ate it all.

That is what I am sharing with you today.

Please take a gander at my amazing

 

It is amazing.

 Filling.

Can be eaten either as a snack or cereal.

Makes almost 2 GALLONS of granola,

and is so addictive you will run out, buy a dehydrator, and start drying bulk cans of pineapple JUST so you can make this.

Really. Because I just did. Again.

Here are your instructions:

 IN a large turkey roaster or pan that can go in oven AND HAS BEEN GREASED place the following ingredients:
12 cups rolled oats, mixture between OF and quick
1 bag sweetened, shredded coconut (mine was about 2 cups coconut)
1/2 cup hulled sesame seeds
1 2.5 oz bag slivered almonds or other nut you like

Turn oven to 350*
Using your hands, mix thoroughly until well blended.

Place roaster in oven and set timer for ten minutes.

Get your handy dandy spatula on steroids ready. 
(seriously, you will need something strong enough to stir when this gets heavy at the end)

While this is roasting, in a heavy bottomed stock pan place the following ingredients 
and bring to a simmer:
1 1/2 cups honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup molasses or dark brown sugar
2 tsp orange zest, fresh
3 Tbs hot water

Now add in the following ingredients: 
1 cup each golden raisins and dried pineapple

Let this simmer for about five to ten minutes. Remember, you are stirring the dry ingredients in the roaster every ten minutes through the fruit/syrup process. By the time you add the fruit in, you should be past your second time stirring the roaster contents.

Add 2 tsp of vanilla (this is my HOMEMADE EXTRACT) after removing from heat, and get out the roaster from the oven, setting it on a heat proof pot holder large enough to hold it.
Pour wet ingredients into the roaster full of dry toasted ingredients.

stir until everything is coated thoroughly

…and then place back in the oven, which is still set at 350*

set your timer for ten more minutes
(ignore my stove, it got scrubbed right after because I saw how bad it was)

Pull it out, and immediately take it from the roaster onto two or three large jelly roll/cookie sheets with a lip that have been greased or sprayed.

Let cool for a couple hours, then break into pieces and store in bags or gallon jars.

My kids got into mine before it was totally cool, and ate quite a bit, BUT it still filled 1 3/4 gallon jars. So, this would have made close to 2 gallons of granola. It is wonderful, with a citrus, coconut and vanilla taste to it that you just cant get enough of.
We have had it both for snack and for breakfast,
and both ways it is amazing.

If you want more of a cereal tendency, then break it into small pieces or roll pieces with a rolling pin under a towel. If you want it for snacking, just break it up with your hands and store it that way.

Dont like it with pineapple and coconut? Substitute dried cherries for the pineapple, use more almonds, such as whole ones for the coconut, and add almond extract along with the vanilla. You could even add the syrup from a jar of maraschino cherries to the liquid you pour over the toasted items…….but then you would have to find someone to eat the cherries. Hmmmm.
Tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it.

Have a wonderful Monday, and see you back here tomorrow
for an amazing new recipe on Tasty Tuesday!

Blessings to you and yours,
Heather

linked at Little House Living Link up