Paleo Trail Mix/Granola

adapted from Paleo Perfected: A Revolution in Eating Well
with 150 Kitchen-Tested Recipes
submitted by Judy O’Shea

preparation time: 20 minutes plus baking time

serves 8 to 10

4 cups of your favorite nuts mixture of pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts

2 cups large flake coconut flakes

½ cup maple syrup (or less depending on sweetness desired)

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1½ cup raisins or dried cranberries

Adjust oven rack to middle and preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Put all the nuts and flaked coconut in a large bowl. Mix the syrup, coconut oil with spices and pour over the nuts and mix until thoroughly coated.

Put nut mixture on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and spread it into as thin a layer as possible, making sure it is as even as possible.

Bake until lightly browned, checking it closely after 10 minutes. Careful since it goes from brown to burned very easily once up to temperature.

Let cool completely, then add the cranberries and store in airtight container at room temperature.

If you want to make a paleo granola instead of a trail mix, you can use the same proportions, but chop the nuts before mixing. It will take longer to brown. You can add an egg white to the spice mixture to get a chunky granola. You can also add any other spices you’d like such as curry powder.