Place the honey, maple syrup, egg whites, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and orange zest, if using, in a large bowl and mix until well blended. Set 1⁄2 cup of the honey mixture aside in a medium-size bowl. Add the oats to the large bowl and mix with a spoon or your hands until everything is well combined and coated.
Add the dried fruit to the reserved 1⁄2 cup of the honey mixture and stir to combine. Set the dried fruit mixture aside.
Spray a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray, or coat it lightly with oil, or line it with parchment paper. Spread the oat mixture out on the prepared baking sheet in a thin, even layer. Bake the oat mixture for 30 minutes (see Cooking Tip).
Add the dried fruit mixture to the oat mixture and stir well with a spoon mixture or spatula to combine. Spread the granola out again in an even layer. Bake the granola until the oats are golden brown and crunchy, 25 to 30 minutes, stirring it once more halfway through the baking time but leave some clumps! Let the granola cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack.
Notes
Cooking Tip
The granola bakes first without the dried fruit because the fruit doesn’t need as much time to get just the right amount of done. Baking the fruit for the whole hour made it too tough and slightly burned tasting, while about 30 minutes was just enough to make it chewy and incorporated into the mix.