I've been breaking in my new oven.

Our oven is actually in Celsius, so I made this handy chart to help me out, because Google searching "Celsius to Fahrenheit" when my hands are covered in dough is just not a good system.

On Monday, I made snicker-doodles, much to my husband's delight. He thinks I don't know when he sneaks one (or two) for breakfast. Ha.

I have grand plans for cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, bread, muffins and more. Today, however, was dedicated to one of my favorite snacks: granola.

While I do love sweet things, in most of my cooking I aim to not only leave out the bad stuff, but include the things that are healing for your body. Empty foods do me no good, and my body will just end up with more cravings without the nutrition it needs.

Fortunately, my love for healthy things is definitely compatible with my love for tasty things, and that is absolutely the case with this granola. It packs a nutritional punch with whole grains, coconut oil, raw honey, and cranberries (not to mention the cinnamon).

You can literally whip this up in 10 minutes, and then let your oven do the rest of the work. To begin, you'll need these things:

8 cups rolled oats (for gluten allergies, check out gluten free oats)

2 cups almonds

1 cup cranberries, currants, or other dried fruit

1/4 cup pure maple syrup (no fake stuff!)

3/4 cup raw honey

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

1 1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon

2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

Combine all of your ingredients into a mixing bowl, and stir until really well combined. The wet ingredients help the dry ingredients stick together. I may or may not have used my hands for that part.

Can we just take a moment to look close and ponder over how good this is gonna be?

I'm slain.

Take your granola and spread a thin layer onto a cookie sheet. If the layer is too thick, your granola won't be completely crunchy and delightful like you want it to be. Firmly press down the layer of granola, and pop it into your oven at 300 degrees.

Let it bake for 15 minutes, and then check it. If it is turning golden, then it's good to go. You can feel the top and see if it feels "dry". If it isn't quite there yet, leave it in for 5 more minutes and watch it closely. If it gets a bit too done, it's not the end of the world, but it may be a bit more crisp than what you are going for.

Helloooooo, beautiful.

Okay, this next step is important: LEAVE IT IN THE PAN TO COOL. No shortcuts. When you leave it in the pan, it dries and cools into those delicious clumps that makes granola great. After its cooled, you can break it apart into whatever size chunks you desire.

Toss into yogurt, add some milk, or just eat it plain! If you want to give it an extra boost, you can add flax seed, chia, sesame seed, different nuts, or other dried fruits. The options are endless! Keep in mind, however, that if you add more dry ingredients, you will also want to add more of the wet ingredients to bind them.

Homemade Granola