Olive oil and maple granola

This recipe came into my email box last week.  I was intrigued.  I've had olive oil in a few non-savory recipes (have you ever tried olive oil gelato?  Heavenly!), but it still holds a place in the savory column for me.  I looked at the recipe and it's (raving) review, and saved the recipe for another day.  Of course, I tweaked it.  A lot.  Partially because I didn't like some of the ingredients (coconut, pecans), partially because I couldn't find some of the others (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds), and partially because I wanted to add a litttle something and I needed to replace the nuts.  And of course I halved the recipe (roughly), because that's apparently what I do.  But in all honesty, I don't need 7 cups of granola sitting around my apartment.

So my substitutions: I added roughly chopped almonds in place of the pecans, and mixed in some dried cranberries about halfway through the baking process (I didn't want them in the whole time, since I was afraid they'd get burnt, dried out, or both).  I have to say that the flavor of the olive oil, with the crunch of the granola, and the tart chewiness of the dried cranberries is awesome!  I may have turned myself into a granola fan after all these years...

Olive Oil and Maple Granola (this is my version; check out the original version here)

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup, roughly, raw almonds roughly chopped
3/8 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Just over 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 300F.

Mix together oats, almonds, maple syrup, olive oil, brown sugar, and salt in a large bowl.  Spread on a rimmed and lined baking sheet.  Bake for 30-45 minutes (mine took about 38 minutes) until toasted.  Mix in dried cranberries when about 5-10 minutes left.