the best granola

I'm not someone who has ever thought twice about making my own cereal - I mean, really. Why would a person do that, with so many good things available for purchase? Two recent events changed my perspective on it: tasting the best cereal we'd ever had during our stay at Whistler for the Olympics, and the recent theft of our credit card and ensuing account number change, interrupting our automatic monthly shipment of bare naked granola. Rather than re-subscribe to our granola, I decided to give this a try first. It is ridiculously easy to make, the house smells amazing while it's baking, and there is really no better breakfast than one you've made yourself. The secret to this recipe is the orange extract.

Granola
adapted from recipe by Fairmont Chateau Whistler

1 cup oats
3 tbsp bran
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup slivered almonds
¼ cup pecans
3 tbsp sesame seeds

3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp canola oil
1/3 cup raisins
3 tbsp currants
½ cup dates, dry

2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp orange extract
2 pinches salt

Preheat the oven to 300F.

In a large bowl mix together the oats, bran, sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, pecans, and sesame seeds. Toast until golden - about 1o minutes.

While still warm, add the honey, oil, raisins, currants, and dried dates.

Next add the vanilla extract, orange extract and a pinch of salt.

Toasted for about 40 minutes at 300F, stirring every 10 minutes, until deep golden brown. Cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to a month.

Of course, you can replace the slivered almonds with walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, or cashews.