Strawberry Coconut Granola

Skip the boxed cereal and make your own easily with this homemade strawberry coconut granola! 

Back when my kids were younger, I was into the couponing system. Remember those days? Where you would clip coupons for food, cleaning products, and beauty products? 

Then I would go to drugstores and try and get the best deals. Remembering those days where I would walk away with $100's of dollars worth of items for mere pennies. One of my favorite coupon "scores" to this day remains to be the 20 bags of cereal and 20 bags of frozen chicken nuggets I got for FREE with coupons. 

My family ate cereal and chicken nuggets for nearly a week. When I look back on that memory, I smile at the frugalness. I also shudder at the idea of the garbage I easily fed my family. 

Especially with cereal.

[mv_create key="100" type="list" title="Other Strawberry Recipes To Try" layout="circles"]Ugh, that store bought, bagged cereal. All that processed sugar. All the artificial food coloring and dyes. I am glad I finally learned the difference between getting something for free now, and paying the price later and paying a bigger price now with better payoffs in the end.

For me, that is the deal with food. I would rather pay more for ingredients and make my own homemade cereal than get boxed cereal for free. The payoff is that we feel better, have less junk in our diets, and far less sugar crashes.

This easy cereal can be made in just a couple of hours, with very little hands on time.

It's naturally sweetened with maple syrup and has loads of coconut flavor. For the dried fruit, I use strawberries, but you can use any dried fruit you would like.  Basic ingredients are oats, coconut, dried fruit, nuts, coconut oil, and maple syrup. 

Do I need to use store bought strawberries? 

That does make it easier, but you can also use oven dried strawberries. To make those:

1. Take your fresh strawberries, wash, stem and cut them into small pieces.
2. Lay in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet.
3. Bake in oven at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until completely dried. You don't want to leave any water in them, or the granola could spoil. You'll know they are done when the break as you try and bend them.

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Do I need to use sunflower seeds? Can I use another nut?

Absolutely! This granola recipe is so versatile! You can change up the sunflower seeds for any nut you would prefer. Some to try:

1. slivered almonds
2. cashews
3. pecans
4. peanuts

Are you ready for a healthy granola recipe that you will love to make over and over again? 

Ingredients

• 6 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 cups dried strawberries

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Mix the dry ingredients, except fruit together
3. add oil and syrup and stir to mix well.
4. Place on a baking sheet and put in oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
5. Add dried strawberries.
6. Store in covered container.

What is your favorite dried fruit to put into granola? Will you try this homemade strawberry coconut granola? Be sure to let me know what you think!

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