My grandmother holds a very special place in my heart.

Most of my happy memories from childhood involve my grandfather, who recently passed away, and my grandmother in one way or another. I spent a lot of time in my grandmother's kitchen, especially since we lived right next door. I could walk a mere twenty feet and arrive at her doorstep. Grams is an amazing cook and I learned a lot from her over the years and still treasure sharing recipes with her to this day even though I live a bit farther away now. 

She used to make a homemade granola that she baked in the oven with sunflower seeds, oats, nuts, and raisins that was so simple but incredibly delicious. It's not a recipe that she still has because it was one that she came up with herself and didn't write down. I was too young to think of getting the recipe from her at the time but I've never forgotten the taste, and I crave it still to this day. Those types of dishes are the best, the ones made out of love that you just create as you go.

Over the years as I got older I've tried all different granola that you can buy from the store, recipes with ingredients that are similar to what I remember being in my grandmother's creation...and not one has come close, until now!

I stumbled upon a recipe from Dang who makes toasted coconut chips that uses coconut oil in the recipe and the taste was so close to what I remember that I made three batches in a row of the granola. The taste reminds me of... sitting at grandma's house in the plush kitchen chairs that are on wheels that roll away because the floor is uneven, and the table comes to my armpits because I'm so little so I have to sit on my legs to be taller. How my grandma would pour me a bowl of her granola and a splash of milk over the top, and I would eat it from a large spoon and crunch away as I smiled at my grandmother's sparkling deep brown eyes. That is where this recipe takes me to and I love it!

I don't know about you but my favorite recipes are the ones that take me back to a beautiful memory.

Give this a try and let me know how you like it! This granola is so versatile, you can eat it alone as a snack, with milk or yogurt for breakfast, on ice cream for dessert, or any other way you can think of. The possibilities are endless, and you can also try it with different dried fruits such as cranberries, blueberries or apricots. Change it up and enjoy making your own memories from it.