For a snack that’s honestly pretty expensive, granola is easy to make. It just takes some time to bake but you can mix and match the basic flavors, dried fruits and nuts to make your own mix. This one is vaguely apple pie flavored.

There is no real backstory behind this recipe besides the Vermonty flavors, but if you’d like the multi page pre-recipe intro HERE is a VPR interview about fall foliage. Or I can introduce you to some Northeast slang, “crunchy” or “granola” which really mean the same thing. A person who wears birkenstocks (unironically and before they made their debut at Paris fashion week), flannel, maybe owns sheep, shops at the local co-op and bikes to work with one pant leg cuffed for safety probably also eats a lot of granola. Therefore they are granola. Therefore, like all good granola, they are crunchy. I myself identify as crunchy as does most of my family (the ones that live in Vermont and Seattle).

Makes about 7 cups of granola.

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats

2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts

3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie or apple pie spice (or you can do 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg)

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup craisins

1 cup dried apples, chopped to same size or smaller than craisins

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 250 F. Line a half sheet pan with a silpat mat or aluminum foil.
• In a large bowl combine the oats, nuts, coconut, sugar, salt and spices. Mix until the sugar is evenly distributed.
• In a liquid measuring cup combine maple syrup and oil. Pour into bowl and combine. Mix until the sugar is fully dissolved and all the oats look coated in liquid. Pour onto a half sheet pan and spread evenly. Bake for an hour 45 minutes, stirring every 15-30 minutes. If you want the big chunks of granola stir less frequently, if you want it broken up stir more frequently.
• Return to bowl as soon as you remove from the oven and while warm mix in the craisins and apples. Baking the fruit in the granola is an option but it makes them hard to chew. Let it cool fully before you package/store the granola.