charlys-room: Yummy Homemade Granola with Pecans & Craisins

Happy Monday!

Welcome to HOMEMADE GIFTS FROM THE KITCHEN WEEK at Echoes of Laughter!

I am going to be sharing some tasty treats from the kitchen that will make terrific Christmas gifts for neighbours, friends, teachers, etc.

Although the gifts I will be sharing for the rest of the week will be super simple and only take 15 minutes to make, this one takes longer...mostly because of oven time.

But the effort and time is so worth it.....this granola is the perfectly blend of sweet and crunchy and was a huge hit at my house.

Homemade Granola with Pecans & Craisins

{makes approx. 8 cups}

Ingredients
1/3 vegetable oil
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats {I used large flake oats}
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup craisins or raisins
1 cup chocolate chips, if desired

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300. Lightly coat 2 cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In large bowl using a whisk or spoon, combine vegetable oil,brown sugar, honey, vanilla, cinnamon & salt.

3. Add rolled oats and chopped pecans. Stir to coat oatmeal and pecans with oil & sugar mixture.

4. Dived mixture between 2 cookie sheets and spread evenly. Place in 300 oven for 15 minutes...stirring occasionally.

5. Add 1/2 cup shredded coconut between each sheet and bake another 15 minutes or until granola is golden brown. Watch carefully so it does not burn!

6. When done, cool slightly on cookie sheet and then pour into big bowl. Add 1 cup of craisins or raisins and chocolate chips if using.

There a lot of recipes for homemade granola, but my family loved this recipe and it was gobbled up in no time! It tastes so good with Greek yogurt!

I packaged the granola into 2 cup size mason jars. I purchased the oval labels at Staples and designed the tags at avery.com.

And here's another tip: if you don't have fabric scraps to decorate the top of the jars, thick paper dinner napkins cut into circles work just as well....that is what I used here.