I love a good granola. And you know what? It's so easy to make. And when you make it, you know exactly what is in it. Many store-bought granolas have lots of hidden ingredients and usually a ton of sugar. This recipe is naturally sweetened, super nutty and a little salty. It reminds me a bit of a BP&J, hence the name.

This recipe can be adapted based on the ingredients you have at home. Granola is also really easy to make because you don't have to be super precise with your measuring and portions. It would be pretty tough to mess this one up because all the ingredients are so good in any portion.

What You Need

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup nut butter — I used almond butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup finely chopped or sliced raw almonds

3 cups old fashion oats

1/4 cup pepitas — I used salted and roasted but any kind is fine

1/2 cup chopped fruit — I used dried plums

1/2 tsp salt

What To Do

Prep

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

Finely chop the 1/2 cup raw almonds. I buzzed them in the Vitamix for a minute which worked really well. Some of it became almost like an almond flour, but it wasn't problem.

Mix

If your coconut oil has solidified, heat it up slightly to bring it to a liquid state.

While still warm, mix the 1/3 cup of coconut oil, 1/3 cup of honey and 1/3 cup of nut butter in a bowl. I also heated up the honey and nut butter slightly to help them mix together, but your call on that one!

Mix in the 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.

It will look like a nice caramel-y texture and color. Go ahead and taste it, it's already delicious. This is a great time to make sure you like the flavor and level of sweetness. I ended up adding a little more almond butter because I'm obsessed.

In a large bowl, mix the 1/2 cup of finely chopped almonds and 3 cups old fashion oats into a bowl.

Pour the mixture over the oats and gently fold to mix, allowing clumps of oats to start forming.

Once the ingredients are evenly mixed, gently fold the pepitas in.

And the mixture is done! If you're like me, steal a few bites to test the flavor. Yum.

Bake

Spread the granola mixture evenly across the prepared baking sheet. Use your spatula to press and flatten the mixture (almost like you are forming a burger patty). This will help it form into a nice bar shape that can be broken up into pieces later.

Time to put it into the oven! Set the timer for 12 minutes (this will be half of the total baking time).

Once the first 12 minutes are up, pull out the granola and use your spatula to flip as much of the granola over as you can. This will help get it evenly toasted.

Once mixed, use your spatula to press and flatten the granola like before.

Put it back in the oven for another 12 minutes or so.

You'll want to pull it out when it darkens in color slightly, but before it gets too toasted brown. It's okay that the granola will still be soft, it will harden as it cools.

Pull it out of the oven, place it on a cooling rack.

Top It Off

Evenly sprinkle the 1/2 cup of chopped fruit across the top of the granola.

Sprinkle the 1/2 tsp of salt across the top.

Let it sit and cool to room temperature.

Break It Up & Enjoy

Once the granola cools to room temperature, you can start to break apart the granola. I like breaking it into larger chunks, but it's up to you.

Enjoy as a snack, sprinkle it over fruit and yogurt, or eat it as a cereal with your favorite milk.

Hope you enjoy and share with some friends. I shared a little with Macy because she was asking so politely :)

xx, Lisa