Sugar Free Granola

There are a lot of sugar free granola recipe's out there, but they include honey. Honey has a ton of sugar in it and can't be used by a diabetic. I found that a lot of stores are now selling sugar free imitation honey and it works just as well. Make sure the honey is Sugar free. The bottle will say imitation. You can make this recipe using any type of dried fruit. I have tried it using dried mango, cranberries, guava, pineapple, cherries, raisins, berries and apricot. Just make sure the dried fruit doesn't have added sugar in it.

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 12
• Yields: 12 1/2 cup

Ingredients

• 4  cups rolled oats
• 2  cups  shredded coconut
• 1⁄2 cup  sugar-free honey
• 1⁄2 cup butter (melted)
• 2  teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1  teaspoon cinnamon (you can leave out) (optional)
• 1  pinch salt
• 2  cups  dried fruit (no sugar added)
• 1⁄2 cup  of chopped  nuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. Mix together in a large bowl the oats and coconut till incorporated.
3. In separate bowl mix together melted butter, sugar free honey, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.
4. Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. (if your going to add nuts, add them at this time).
5. Spread mixture evenly onto a large cookie sheet that has shallow sides. (make sure the mix is spread evenly and goes to the sides all the way around.
6. Bake for 15 minutes in oven. You want to bake the mixture till it gets golden brown all over. The sides will start to darken before the middle.
7. After 15 minutes take out of oven and stir well. put back in oven and watch carefully as it will darken fast. I generally cook mine about 20-25 minutes.
8. Take out of oven when the granola is golden brown. The mixture will appear wet and you will think it's not done, but as the granola cools it gets crunchy.
9. While the mixture is cooling on the baking sheet, I add the 2 cups of dried fruit and mix it well. The heat will help the fruit release some of it's natural flavors without drying it out. I have tried baking the granola with the fruit and found cranberries especially get a little too hard.
10. After about an hour the granola will be crunchy and ready to eat! I love to sprinkle on the top of my yogurt, eat as a cereal or just eat plain out of the bag!
11. Since you can use so many different types of dried fruit, the combination are endless. My son likes to add M&M's to his, but then it's not so sugar free, but it's still good!