Pineapple Granola

Last night I put together this pineapple granola and we liked it so I thought I would share it here.

Pineapple Granola
9-10 C. old fashioned oats
1 - 20 oz. can pineapple chunks or tidbits, drained with all juice reserved*
(My favorite is Dole Tropical Gold Chunks found at Costco.)
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 C. vegetable oil**
1/2 C. honey
3/4+ C. reserved pineapple juice (use all the juice drained from the can)
1 T. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
1 C. dried cranberries
1 C. nuts of your choosing (optional - we opt out as there are multiple allergies in our house)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
In large oven-proof bowl mix oil, honey, pineapple juice, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Heat briefly to melt the sugar. Add in oats and stir well. Remove half of oat mixture to 9x13" glass pan.
Quarter drained pineapple chunks or leave tidbits as is, then place on baking sheet lined with silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
Place two dishes of granola and sheet of pineapple in the oven. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Stir dried cranberries and nuts (opt.) into granola, turn oven off and leave in oven overnight. Serve and enjoy!

Yield: enough for 2 breakfasts for our family :)

*You could also use dried pineapple from the store, but I'm much more likely to have canned pineapple on hand and the juice nicely flavors the oats.
**I've read of other folks using coconut oil, which I will try if we get the go-ahead from our allergy doctor.