Day Late Humpastry Day - Homemade Granola

Welcome new followers!  I cannot believe I have over 90! Woohoo!  I'm hoping to make it around to your blogs soon, if you have one, but I'm just having a hard time keeping up with it all this week!  Hopefully I'll be back on track soon. :)
Homemade Granola:

Where are the days going?  I seriously thought today was Wednesday.  So, when my alarm for my Masters Swim class went off this morning at 5AM I was really confused for awhile.  Until I realized what day it actually was.  I think between getting things put away from our camping trip and getting ready for my oldest son's birthday party this weekend, my mind has just been a frazzled mess!  

So, without further ado, I bring you a delicious and healthy recipe for homemade granola.  I've had this in my recipe box for a long time and I have no idea where the original recipe came from.  I wish I could take credit for it because it is really good.  It is super easy to make and will stay good up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.  Plus, it will save you mucho dinero making it yourself instead of buying granola from the store.

Ingredients:
Makes about 5 cups of granola (serving size is 1/2C)

*  2/3C packed light brown sugar
*  1/3C unsweetened apple sauce
*  2C old-fashioned oats
*  1/2C chopped almonds
*  1/4C ground flaxseed
*  2/3C nut-like cereal (I just realized I forgot this in the picture..oops!)
*  2/3C dried cherries (you can use any dried fruit that you prefer, but I think cherries and almond extract go really well together)
*  1/2C green pumpkin seeds (toasted pepitas)
*  1/2tsp. cinnamon
*  1/4tsp. almond extract
*  1/8tsp. salt

Directions:
1.  Combine all ingredients except sugar and cider in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
2.  In a large nonstick skillet, combine the sugar and cider.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 2-3 minutes, until sugar is dissolved.
3.  Stir in all of the other ingredients and cook 5 more minutes, stirring frequently, until granola is lightly browned.  I love this step because it smells so good while it's cooking!  Yum! 

4.  Transfer to a large cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray or lined with parchment paper.  **Note:  My father-in-law gave me the coolest thing!  It's called a Silpat and you can use it in place of parchment paper for all your baking/cooking.  It is nonstick and cleans up really easily.  You can see it in the picture underneath the granola.  The best part is that I don't have to buy parchment paper because I can just reuse the Silpat over and over again!  (Another way to be "green") :)  

5.  Let granola cool completely.
6.  Break it apart into pieces and store in an airtight container.
8.  Eat as cereal with milk, mixed with yogurt, as a snack, or eat it right off the cookie sheet!  This stuff is soooo good! :)