Banana Granola

In the mood for some home made granola, I stumbled across this recipe I printed off the net years ago from allrecipes.com, I was intrigued by the banana in it and the fresh dates! I have never bought fresh dates before, nor even knew where to pick them up at! I added pecans as well, and just used raisins for the dried fruit.
It was great with Milk for Breakfast.





                                                                        Banana Granola:

               2 banana's. peeled and diced
               1 1/4 c dates, pitted and chopped
               1/4 c hot water
               1 Tbsp vanilla extract
               1 tsp ground cinnamon
               8 cups quick cooking oats8 oz dried mixed fruit
               8 oz blanched slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 250

Puree the bananas and dates in a food processor. Add the brown sugar, hot water, vanilla and cinnamon. mix well.
Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl, add oatmeal and mix well.
Spread onto large baking sheets and bake at 250 for 1-1 1/2 hrs stirring frequently. Cook longer for crunchier if desired. Once cooled add the dried fruits and nuts, as little or as much as you want. and mix.