Vanillia-Orange Granola

Low-Fat Homemade Vanilla-Orange Granola

Ingredients
3 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
1/2 cup chopped nuts, such as walnuts, pecans and almond slivers
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp orange peel
1/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup organic, unsweetened flaked coconut (I like Bob’s Red Mill Unsweetened Coconut Flakes)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine orange juice, honey, cinnamon, vanilla extract and orange peel in a sauce pot and heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the honey has melted. Set aside.
3. In a large glass bowl, combine rolled oats, wheat germ, flaxseed meal, and chopped nuts. Do not add the coconut at this point.
4. Pour the honey-orange juice mixture over the oat mixture and mix gently until the oats are thoroughly coated.
5. Spread the oats in a thin layer on a baking sheet and place it in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring the granola once during the baking cycle (at around the 15 minute mark.) Add the coconut during the final ten minutes of baking.
6. Remove from oven and cool.

For best results (and a nice crunchy granola) store the cooled granola in an airtight container or freezer bag in the icebox.

Makes approximately five cups of granola.