Cherry Almond Quinoa Granola

Preheat the oven to 250 F.

Thoroughly rinse the quinoa under running water for several minutes, and drain with a fine mesh sieve. Pour the rinsed quinoa into a large frying pan and toast over medium low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly until all of the moisture has evaporated.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, toasted quinoa, coconut, almonds, walnuts, flax seed and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, raw honey, maple syrup and almond extract until thoroughly blended.

Pour the oil mixture over the dry ingredients and stir to coat.

Spread the granola evenly over two large rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpat liners. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to ensure that the granola is evenly toasted.

When the granola is finished baking, remove the pans from the oven, set them on a rack and allow granola to cool for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Mix the dried cherries into the granola and store in an airtight container for up to a week.