Banana Nut Granola

Made this for my grandkids, they are so into the sweetened cereals, this seemed like a healthy alternative. They loved it.

Not too sweet (like most Granola) but certainly my new favorite healthy snack!

This is the third time I've made "basically" this recipe. I keep losing it and I've not easily been able to find it again. So, happy to find Dancer's recipe. I only bought a 18oz Old Fashioned Oats, added about 1 cup of Instant Oats that I had. I added pepitas, walnuts, sliced almonds and about 1/4 cup chia seeds. (I think all of those extras are just fine to use what you have!) I just LOVE how this granola ends up so crunchy and also ends up with lots of pick-upable chunks. This is now my go to granola. I didn't have unsweetened coconut this time, but I really like it with coconut. Also, I bake it on 300, stirring every 15 minutes, until it gets as dark as I want it. You have to wait until it's fully cool before you can tell how crunchy it is. Also! Fantastic way to get rid of bananas. I freeze my bananas in their skin. Then when I want to use them, I just take them out of the freezer, snap off the top, turn them upside down in a measuring cup and put in the fridge overnight. Then you just squeeze out the banana.

This recipe needs to be revised. It became delicious once I halved the oats and doubled the banana/date mixture. I also boiled the sweetened coconut in with the dates and blended that and it worked very well. Also, I added some pumpkin pie spice mixture and extra nutmeg and cinnamon, wheat germ, flax seeds, and brown sugar. Thanks for inspiring me to do this twice.

I made a 1/2 batch of this granola, but doubled the bananas. I mixed in pecans with the oats. My recipe was quite "oaty". I'm thinking maybe I will maybe add more banana, and maybe extra liquid to the dates. I liked the texture and the clumping where oats met up with the dates.