Crunchy Granola

This is a healthier trail mix-style granola with many crunchy clusters. The fat is lower than many recipes and it has lots of healthy grains, nuts and dried fruit.

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Yields: 8 1/2 c servings

Ingredients

• 4  cups old fashioned oats
• 3  tablespoons ground flax seeds
• 3  tablespoons wheat germ (oat bran, etc)
• 1⁄2 cup  chopped  almonds (substitute as desired)
• 1⁄2 cup  chopped pecans
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
• 1⁄4 cup honey (maple syrup or corn syrup also work)
• 2  tablespoons  vegetable oil
• 1  egg white (2-3T in volume)
• 1  cup  dried fruit (berries, raisins, chopped apricots, etc)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 300°F.
2. Mix oats, flax, wheat germ, almonds, pecans, salt and brown sugar in a large bowl. Wisk to combine the oil, honey and egg white, then pour over the oat mixture. Stir well until ingredients are evenly coated. It may seem too dry but keep stirring.
3. Spray oil on a jelly roll pan and add the granola mixture. Bake 20-30 minutes, until the edges are browned and it smells toasty. To make clumps don't stir during baking. Cool and allow the granola to harden. Break into smaller pieces and add the fruit. Store airtight for two weeks.
4. The dried fruit may hydrate the granola so it loses some of its crunch. If so just pop it back in a 300F oven for about 10 minutes.