Healthful Cranberry Granola

I've been browsing for a wholesome granola recipe for a few weeks now and slowly accumulating ingredients I didn't have. I couldn't find ONE recipe that had me completely had me sold, so I took a few of the runner-ups and adapted my own to suit my taste and make it as healthful as possible. Here you go....

Healthful Cranberry Granola

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup flax seed meal

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sunflower seeds

3/4 cup slivered almonds

1 cup dried cranberries

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/3 cup applesauce

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup water

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. 

2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together wet ingredients and pour over dry ingredients. Mix together until evenly blended.  Spread onto two greased, large baking pans.

2. Bake1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes. Cool completely. Store in an air-tight container.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Although, there aren't as many clusters as I'd like, so I think I'll add some maple syrup next time. I was worried about using applesauce in place of oil, but I can't stop eating it. I might be able to get away with cutting the sugar down to 1/4 cup. Oh, if you just so happen to be allergic to honey, you can substitute with pure maple syrup. ;-)