Sweet and Salty Granola

ETA on 1/24/13:  I've made this several more times since the original post.  Yes, I do realize it's only been 5 days.  But yes, my family loves granola.  Anyway, I made one modification that gives it a little extra kick.  Instead of mixing the entire teaspoon of salt into the dry ingredients, I only mixed in half.  Then when the batch is done cooking and I'm ready to stir in the cranberries, I also sprinkle on 3/4 teaspoon of Kosher salt and stir that in.  That way once the granola is cool and you eat it, you get nice little pops of salt on your tongue.  :-)

We are planning on taking the kids out for a hike on Monday, so I decided to make some granola to bring along.  Lately I've been more into salty snacks than sweet, so I decided to compromise (the kids like sweet) and make a sweet and salty version.  I threw this together based on what was in my pantry.  The house smells awesome while it's baking, and it turned out really good. 

Sweet and Salty Granola

Ingredients:

• 4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 cup raw pepitas
• 1 cup raw slivered almonds
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, mix together the first 5 (dry ingredients).  Set aside.
• Place honey and coconut oil into a microwave safe bowl and heat on medium heat until the coconut oil is soft (about 45 seconds).  Whisk until melted.
• Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon.
• Spread the granola onto two baking sheets lined with Silpats.
• Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until lightly browned, stirring the granola every 10-15 minutes to ensure even browning. 
• Remove from oven and stir in the cranberries.  Let cool completely.  The granola will be soft while it's hot, but once it cools completely it will be nice and crunchy.
• Store in an airtight container.