Slow-Cooked Peanut Butter Granola

This recipe is FANTASTIC, especially when mixed with vanilla yogurt :)
Now, that being said, it's quite time intensive... But don't let that deter you from making this!

5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, uncooked
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup coconut, toasted*
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 brown sugar


In a slow cooker, stir together the oats, sesame seeds, ground flax seeds, toasted coconut and salt.

In a microwave safe bowl, blend honey, oil, peanut butter, and brown sugar.  Heat mixture and stir until peanut butter melts and mixture is smooth.  Pour mixture over the ingredients in the slow cooker.  Stir the mixture until everything is well coated with the peanut butter mixture.

Set the slow cooker to low.  Place the cover on top and wedge the handle of a wooden spoon or chop stick under the lid to hold it open to create a vent to allow steam to escape.  Cook for about 3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.*  When the granola becomes a deep golden brown, turn it out onto a large baking sheet with sides until it is cooled completely.  Store cooled granola at room temperature in airtight container.

*Temperature settings on slow cookers do not seem to be universal.  The low setting on my slow cooker is quite hot and needs to be stirred about every 15 minutes, so just keep an eye on it :)
*Toast coconut in a small skillet on the stove over medium/low heat.  Stir constantly until it turns to a golden brown color.  Immediately dump into slow cooker.   -   There are a lot of people that don't like coconut, however you can't taste it in this recipe so I totally recommend adding it.  For those of you who are like me and LOVE coconut, I added quite a bit extra ;)