Granola with dried wolfberries

I love granola. Like...a whole bunch!  I was very happy to find gluten free oats...not eating gluten is hard enough, but take away my oats?? Not cool.

Granola will always hold a special place in my heart and will forever remind me of my maternal grandparents. Man were they cool! When we visited them we would get to go check out their apple orchard in Washington, we'd pick cherries from their giant tree in the backyard, run through sprinklers, play the piano with grandma and there would always, ALWAYS, be grandpa with his pipe, the news on the television...and his granola. Grandma made huge batches of it and kept it in this big green Tupperware.  Recently, my mom sent me home with a similar bowl...it shall now be my granola bowl!! Cool, huh??

My mom and I have tried to recreate grandma's recipe...but it's one of those things that is never quite the same.  This recipe is pretty darn close, and it has such amazing ingredients!! I first learned about the benefits of wolfberries when I became a Young Living Distributor and tried Ninjxia red. So good! So, when I saw that I could order a bag of the dried berries and that I could use them in so many recipes....I. Was. Sold!

Ok....on with it. Let's get to this recipe!  So....gather those supplies!!
**Disclaimer...I am aware that the coconut oil is upside down in the picture. I decided not to change it so that it could drive my OCD friend crazy...this is for you, tiny human.

Ingredients:

o   3 cups of oats

o   ½ cup dried Wolfberries

o   ½ cup dried cherries (or any dried fruit...I like dried fruit!)

o   ½ cup raisins

o   ½ cup flax seeds

o   ¼ cup sunflower seeds

o   ½ tsp coconut sugar

o   ½ tsp cinnamon (or 1 tsp if not using the below)

o   ½ tsp vanilla cinnamon shake (Red Ape Cinnamon....ah-maze-ing!)

o   dash of salt (2-3 twists if you have a grinder)

o   ½ tsp vanilla extract

o   ¼ cup coconut oil

o   ½ cup honey

o   3 drops of Cinnamon Vitality Essential Oil

o   3 drops of Nutmeg Vitality Essential Oil

Directions

1.     Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet with either a silpat or parchment paper.

2.     Mix the dry ingredients, fruit and seeds together in a large bowl.

3.     Melt the coconut oil and honey together on medium-low heat in a small saucepan.  

4.     Once the oil and honey mixture is melted, turn off the heat, remove the saucepan and add in the vanilla extract. Stir it up!

5.     Pour the oil and honey mixture over your dry ingredients and stir well, making sure to coat it all.

6.     Pour onto your baking sheet and distribute evenly.

7.     Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. (Your granola will still look wet even when it’s done, the coconut oil will harden and become delicious!! Trust me!)

8.     I usually let it sit on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes to cool down.  During this time, prepare the container that it will be stored in with the drops of essential oils.

9.     Once it’s a bit cool, add to the container and stir it up, your house is going to smell amazing!!

10.  Enjoy!  Top yogurt with your granola, eat with almond milk, regular milk…the list goes on and on! I have found that it lasts (if I don’t eat it all…) up to 2 weeks in an air tight container on the counter.  Sometimes I’ll put in the freezer and then it’s ready to go when I want!! Let me know how it tastes!

 Why Wolfberries?? Here is some information from my Young Living website:

"Young Living’s Organic Dried Wolfberries are a sweet, organic snack from nature that’s easy to make
part of your daily diet. Our gentle drying process makes these USDA-certified organic wolfberries
versatile and easy to incorporate into lots of recipes, letting you add wolfberry benefits to anything from
stir-fry to baked goods!
With polyphenols and polysaccharides, this exotic berry is touted around the world for its taste and
nutrients. Documented use of wolfberries dates back to the Ming Dynasty, where they were part of
ancient Chinese culture."