Granola: It’s all about the mix
Homemade granola is one of the easiest things to make and a great pantry staple. In under an hour you can mix and match your ingredients into a custom batch of goodness. Just follow some general guidelines.
Find a basic recipe and follow the suggested proportions. Add, delete or substitute ingredients to make it your own. The best granolas have a good balance of oats and grains and a mix of crunch from nuts and seeds. Dried fruit can be added afterwards to add a chewier texture. You can sweeten it to your liking and give it a salty kick (my favorite with tangy Greek yogurt). Egg whites will give your granola some added crispiness.
My current favorite is the salty-sweet Eleven Madison Park Granola pictured below. (Fun fact: the famous Manhattan restaurant sends diners home with a jar of this granola for the next morning’s breakfast.) I use a mix of dried blueberries and cranberries. The pistachios I have on hand are salted, so I cut back on the kosher salt just a tad. Try this with full fat Greek yogurt, slices of perfectly ripe banana—and you’ll think you’re eating banana cream pie with a sweety-salty crust.
The Mix
Grains: Oatmeal – old fashioned or rolled oats are the first choice, but if you only have quick-cooking those will work too. Other options: quinoa, millet, wheatgerm
Nuts & Seeds: Pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds) and pistachios are my current favorite. Unsweetened coconut flakes are a must in my book. I like both Bob’s Red Mill and Trader Joe’s brands. Other options: sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pecans, almonds – slivered/sliced or chopped, walnuts, chia seeds, flax seed (strong taste).
Sweeteners: Brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, agave or any combo. You could also use coconut sugar.
Oil: Olive oil or coconut oil are both good choices. This Rachel Ray recipe uses unsalted butter. Try browning your butter for more depth.
Kosher Salt: Don’t be afraid to add salt. It adds an especially tasty balance to the sweetness in the granola and when served with tart yogurt. (If any of your nuts are salted, then you may want to cut back on added salt.)
Fruit add-ins: Add these after baking. Dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries, apricots, etc. My husband is the official dryer-of-blueberries at our house. The benefit: no added sugar, unlike purchased dried fruit. The NY Times Strawberry Granola uses freeze-dried strawberries for a pretty pinkish-red result . You could use lemon zest combined with dried blueberries, or dried cranberries and orange zest.
Spices & extracts: Play with spices. For autumn, you could add cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg or cardamom. Alison Roman’s Kinda-Sweet Granola (from her cookbook Dining In) uses turmeric. I’ve also seen recipes calling for vanilla or lemon extract. I discovered an interesting granola recently at The Lakehouse in Bellevue, Washington that is made with coffee flour and cocoa.
Baking times range from recipe to recipe
But a good starting point is 35-45 minutes at 300° or 45-55 minutes at 325°. You can also bake it at 350° for closer to 30 minutes. Bake on the middle rack on a heavy baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The main thing is to check it and take it out when it reaches your desired level of golden toastiness. Some recipes say to stir often or every 15 minutes. However, if you’d rather read a book or talk to a friend while your granola is baking ... and you don’t get around to stirring it, that just means you’ll have some bigger crunchy clumps of goodness.
Dry on the tray for one hour before storing in airtight container. Mason jars are perfect. Look for different shapes and sizes. Granola makes a great hostess gift for the morning after. Add some colorful baking twine or ribbon and a hand-written note or an attached recipe card. Or store in your desk at the office.