Maple Granola - cooking recipe

Ingredients

7 cups rolled oats, uncooked
1 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
1 cup stabilized wheat germ
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup diced pecans or 1 cup walnuts
1 cup raw sunflower seeds or 1 cup roasted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup raisins
additional dried fruit or nuts, as desired

Preparation

In a very large bowl, combine the oats, coconut, wheat germ, nuts, and seeds. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, salt, maple syrup, and vanilla. Pour over the dry mixture in the bowl, stirring and tossing till everything is very well combined; a spoonula or large stirring spoon work well here.
Spread granola on a couple of large lightly greased baking sheets; a half-sheet pan is ideal. Bake in a preheated 250\u00b0F oven for 2 hours, stirring the mixture with a heatproof spatula, spoonula, or turner every 15 minutes or so. You want to bring the granola at the edge in towards the middle, so it all browns evenly. When the granola is a light golden brown, remove it from the oven and cool completely on the pans.
Transfer the granola to a large bowl, and mix in the raisins and any additional dried fruit desired-dates, figs, currants, cranberries, cherries, apricots, blueberries, etc.
Store in a tightly closed container at room temperature for several weeks; freeze for extended storage.