But seriously, all kidding aside, I make granola a couple times a month. It's super easy to make, is much cheaper than buying store bought, and most importantly tastes a lot better! My major complaint with store-bought granola is they don't toast it enough leaving it pale and mealy. Good granola should be golden; its nuts and seeds fully toasted. In moments of desperation I have even gone so far as to spread store bought granola out on a cookie sheet and toast it for 15 mins at 300 degrees just to make it more palatable. But it's activities like that, which will drive your husband crazy so it's easier to just make your own.
My recipe gleans inspiration from Martha Stewart and Molly Wizenberg who writes the heartstoppingly gorgeous Orangette, contributes to Bon Appétit, and whose book, A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table is worth adding to your Christmas wish list.
My recipe, like all good things, came about partly by accident, and partly because I was wanting to clean out the various and sundry jars in my pantry. I ended up dumping the remainders of several jars of seeds and coconut into the mix and the resulting granola was fantastic - it's since become my go to.
You can switch this recipe up as you see fit and by what you have in your cupboard but there is one item that I think must be included - sesame seeds - they are delicious and bring such a nutty warmth to this granola. I also favour using olive oil in my granola, not melted butter like Martha. This is because I like to store my granola in jars in the cupboard and the idea of leaving melted milk solids at room temp in the cupboard for weeks kinda skeeves me out.
You'll notice I also leave my dried fruit out, and instead, keep a jar of the fruit next to the granola in the cupboard for adding at breakfast. I find this way the fruit stays soft and chewable and the granola stays crisp. Heaven forbid the textures not be distinct!
One of my favourite breakfasts is a bowl of plain Balkan-style yogurt topped with half a banana, a handful of granola some dried fruit and a drizzle of honey. If I'm feeling like a nice wife (or need to photograph something for the blog) sometimes I'll even arrange this in layers in one of our heavy bottomed rock glasses and serve it to the hubs with black coffee and the paper. Presentation is everything.
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup almonds, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup seeds of your choice, I like to use a mix of salted sunflower and green pumpkin seeds because I like a little salty in my sweet
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1/4 cup good cooking olive oil - this isn't the place for green and grassy tasting extra virgin olive oil you'd use as a bread dipper or in salad dressing but you don't want to use crap either - use a good oil you'd cook with - for a great primer on pantry essentials and choosing oils check out this great post from Cursive Mechanics http://cursivemechanics.ca/2010/06/07/pantry-essentials-oil/
- 1/3 cup honey - mine is from the fruit winery I wrote about here http://www.folksgottaeat.com/2010/07/roadtrippin-with-shana.shtml
For serving:
- 1 cup dried apricots, chopped
- 1 cup dried sour cherries if you can't find them or find them too expensive dried cranberries are a good substitute
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds, seeds, coconut, oil, and honey; mix well to coat. Spread on a parchment-lined cookie sheet (this prevents sticking and makes clean up a breeze) or two in an even layer. Bake until the oats are lightly golden, 20-30 minutes, stirring halfway through. Cool the granola completely on the sheet, stirring it around a couple times so it doesn't stick together. (It hardens as it cools.) Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.
Mix It Up!
- Try adding in other rolled grain flakes with the oats such as spelt, kamut, or wheat germ flakes.
- Apple-Cinnamon: Add a tsp of cinnamon to the wet ingredients before baking and serve with dried apple or "apple peel cracklings" http://lisaskitchen.com/home/licenced-to-kale-salad/
- Date-Nut: Add chopped dates and toasted pecans.
- Berry: Add dried blueberries and strawberries.
- Experiment! Use other dried fruits (raisins, currants, tropical fruits like mango, pineapple and papaya) and toasted or raw nuts (walnuts, cashews, mixed nuts, pistachios) and whatever spices you want (cardamom and nutmeg are great around the holidays).
