I was on a little road trip over the weekend, my roadtripping partner @adjoa and I headed down south for a quick jaunt.
And although we drove only two and half hours south, there was enough visiting, sightseeing, shopping and eating to last a whole weekend.
I love road trips, even though I don’t take them enough; I have a list of ‘road trip essentials’ that I like to bring with me.
Music, of course, is essential; especially at this time of year when it’s mostly dark and gray all the time.
Healthy snacks are another essential road trip item, I dread having to buy snacks at the gas station.
My favourite road trip munching snack is granola, a satisfying travel snack; it’s sweet, salty and crunchy.

This very simple, easy to make granola has dried mango, cashews, pistachios, cranberries and raisins.

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Mango Cranberry Cashew Granola
INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups (old fashioned rolled) oats
• ½ cup shredded coconut
• ½ cup slivered almonds
• ½ cup cashews
• ½ cup pistachios
• 1 cup dried mango pieces
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup cranberries
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon applesauce
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground ginger (optional)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
2. Whisk maple syrup with oil, applesauce, vanilla and ginger in a saucepan
3. Heat on low for a 2 minutes stirring occasionally
4. In a large bowl, combine oats with shredded coconut, almonds, cashews, pistachios and salt, and mix well
5. Pour the maple syrup and oil mixture over oats and stir until well mixed.
6. Spread the mixture out evenly on a large (rimmed) baking sheet
7. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes stirring every ten minutes until oats are golden
8. Remove granola from the oven, and stir in dried mango, raisins and cranberries.
9. Cool completely and store in airtight container, it’ll keep for up to a month.

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