Granola with Olio Nuovo Mandarin Agrumato Olive Oil, Coconut, Cherries, and Cashews

Ingredients

• 6 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup cashews (or almonds, pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts)
• 1 cup unsweetened large flake coconut
• 1 cup dried fruit (I use cherries, but you can use blueberries, dates, raisins, cranberries… etc.)
• 1/2 cup Olio Nuovo Mandarin Agrumato Olive Oil (or Blood Orange, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit, Bergamot, Tangerine, etc.)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

Line a large-rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix together the first four dried ingredients and spread out into an even layer over the lined baking sheet.

In a medium pot set over low heat, or in your microwave, gently warm the honey so that it becomes more fluid. Whisk the olive oil into the warm honey along with the vanilla. It won’t emulsify, but that’s alright.

Even drizzle the honey-olive oil mixture over the oats on the baking sheet. Toss everything gently to coat as much of the oats with honey and olive oil as possible. Redistribute into an even layer and pop it into the oven on the middle rack.

Every 10 minutes for about 1/2 hour, check and stir the granola, the honey, and olive oil with continue to coat the remainder of the granola as you do this. When the granola is fragrant and golden brown, remove it from the oven and stir it one last time to ensure even distribution of olive oil and honey.

Allow it to cool and store it in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. Makes approximately 9 cups, or 9 servings, of granola