Lots of us love to have yogurt with granola and berries for breakfast, or in my case, lunch, and I think I’ve come up with a granola that can be served for dessert as well. When I’m out walking in the mornings is when I come up with a lot of my recipes. Last Friday, while on my walk, it came to me that granola with bourbon and vanilla added to it would make for a fantastic ice cream topper as well as yogurt topper.

First, I took everything I needed out of the pantry so I’d be organized.

Let me just tell you, it smells really good in my kitchen right now! I started with rolled oats, slivered almonds and unsweetened shredded coconut in a large glass bowl. I combined those items with my hands and set the bowl aside while I mixed together my liquids for the granola.

In a large glass measuring cup, I whisked canola oil, honey, bourbon and vanilla.

Once those were whisked well, I poured this over my oat mixture. I then added a half teaspoon of kosher salt and tossed it all together one last time before placing it on a large sheet pan covered with parchment paper and into a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. I did pull the granola out of the oven to give it a little stir about half-way through.

While the granola was baking, I diced my dried Turkish apricots and set my golden berry mix and cashews aside to be added to the granola once it had cooled for several minutes. I buy the Golden Berry Blend at Trader Joe’s and consists of golden raisins, cherries, cranberries, and blueberries.

Once the granola had cooled about 7 minutes, I added the apricots, golden berry mix and cashews to the pan and tossed it all together. Yummmmmm!

I put some in a cute little Ball jar and wrapped it with a bow to give to my friend tonight. I hope she loves it!

I may just have this for lunch tomorrow over yogurt and again for dessert over ice cream tomorrow evening. I would definitely consider serving this to guests over ice cream, it’s that good.

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats

1-1/2 cups slivered almonds

1 cup cashews

1-1/4 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)

1-1/2 cups (8 ounce gag) golden berry blend

1 cup dried Turkish apricots, diced

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup bourbon

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

1. In large bowl, stir together oats, slivered almonds and shredded coconut. Set aside.
2. In a large measuring cup, whisk together oil, honey, bourbon and vanilla. Pour over oats and stir. Add salt and stir again.
3. Pour oat mixture onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place in a preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes. Stir half-way through.
4. Let Cool for 7-10 minutes. Add apricots, berry blend and cashews. Mix well. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris