Macadamia Coconut Granola

Macadamia Coconut Granola

Super Target recently had their nuts and trail mixes on sale, "buy one get one 50% off," so of course I had to stock up on macadamia nuts. I'm out of Dove Milk Chocolate Promises, though, so I had to figure out what to do with some of the nuts. The logical choice was to take my friend Christie's Cranberry Walnut Granola recipe and change it up with some macadamia nuts and coconut. Good call. Very good call. This granola may not be as healthy as the walnut/cranberry version, but it is just as tasty. The only reason I did not add the flax seed meal is that I didn't have any golden flax meal, and I didn't want to ruin the golden tones of this granola with the strange dark brown tone of the regular flax meal. Yeah, it sounds weird to me too as I type it.
This granola is pretty crunchy and flavorful. It's great with milk and it's also great with yogurt (I enjoyed some with AE Dairy Almond Creme Greek Yogurt). I think any way you like to eat granola, you'll like this one.


Macadamia Coconut Granola
    --Adapted from bonappetit.com

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons canola oil
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/4 scant teaspoon kosher salt*
• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup macadamia nuts, coarsly chopped (I used lightly salted macadamias)
• 3/4 cup coconut flakes
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Brush a heavy rimmed baking sheet with 2 tablespoons canola oil.
Whisk 2 tablespoons canola oil, sugar, egg whites, and salt in a large bowl. Mix in the oats and macadmias. 
Spread mixture evenly on prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Stir with a metal spatula and then bake 8 more minutes. Stir again. Sprinkle coconut over the top and drizzle with corn syrup. Bake until golden brown, about 7-8 more minutes. Stir to loosen and transfer to a clean baking sheet to cool completely. 
Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Serve as it is for a snack, or with milk as a cereal.
Makes about 6 cups

* My macadamia nuts were salted, so I reduced the salt in this recipe to 1/4 teaspoon. If you're using unsalted macadamia nuts, increase kosher salt to a scant 1/2 teaspoon.