tropical granola {sms}

I've been dreaming of pina coladas and coconut cream pie. I am obsessed with the white flaky stuff.  Maybe it's the sweltering heat that's inducing my brain to be fixated on all things tropical.

With this week's Sweet Melissa Sundays' recipe,  I read "cherries and almonds" and imagined  "coconut, pineapples and macadamias."

And mangoes and ginger... hope you don't mind a trip to the tropics.

Thanks to Wendy of Pink Stripes for choosing this great recipe; she has the original one (Cherry and Almond Granola) on her blog.  Also, you can check out all the other wonderful bakers' granola here.

Tropical Granola
adapted from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy

4 cups rolled oats
1½ cups sweetened shredded coconut (I used unsweetened because that's what I had on hand.)
1 cup macadamia nuts
¼ cup butter
¼ cup canola oil
¾ cup pineapple coconut juice
⅓ cup brown sugar
¼ cup honey
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1⁄₈ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
¾ cup dried pineapples, diced
¾ cup dried mangoes, diced
¼ cup crystallized ginger, minced (optional, as this is a very strong flavor- I actually only used 2 tablespoons in ½ the batch.)   

Preheat oven to 250ºF.  Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment or foil.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, coconut, and macadamias.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter.  Then whisk in the oil, fruit juice, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer until syrupy, about 10 minutes.

Pour the hot mixture over the oat mixture. Mix well to combine.

Spread the granola in the prepared cookie sheet.  Bake for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes, until golden.  Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Break up the granola into a bowl.  Add the pineapples, mangoes, and ginger and mix thoroughly.

The granola keeps in an airtight container at room temperature and in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.