Granola

Here's a recipe for some tasty granola that I came up with after enjoying a yogurt parfait in the hospital - Matt and I are really chowing down on this stuff (mostly me - moo!)

Maple-Almond Granola

1/4 c. pure maple syrup
1 T. honey
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 c. old fashioned oats
1/4 c. slivered almonds
scant 1/4 c. dried cherries

Heat the syrup and honey in a microwave safe dish for 1 1/2 min or boil on the stove top in a small saucepan for 1 min. Stir in almond extract. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well. (I cut the dried cherries in half with kitchen scissors b/c the cherries seemed a bit large to me) Spread out on a parchment lined cookie sheet with rims to prevent spilling. Bake at 275 for 25-30 min., stirring a couple times depending on how large you like your granola clusters to be. If you like slightly chewy granola, take it out after the 25 minutes. If you like crisp granola turn off the oven heat after 25-30 min. and allow to stand in the oven for up to another 10 min. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet and store in an airtight container.

Alternately, you could use 1 tsp. vanilla extract and use raisins or blueberries instead of the cherries and add 1/2 to 1 tsp. ground cinnamon for a different take on it. I did this the first time and really liked it, but Matt isn't a huge cinnamon fan and he liked the pairing of the almond extract and cherries better but said both were good. Very tasty with yogurt.

It's not a huge recipe, but it's really easy to make quickly, and I like the idea of it being fresh - I've already made two batches since we got home from the hospital!