Okay, so my wife and sister bond over granola recipes. Every Fall their warm spices come out, they shop for raw nuts like wild women on a mission and dig out every jar they saved to create various types.
While my pumpkin love is very LTD! this granola is the one I look forward to. That jar of TJ’s pumpkin butter replaces plain puree and finally has a purpose.
This one is tasty alone, with warmed milk, over yogurt or topped over ice cream.
How do you granola? Recipes? Methods? TIA.
I’ve recently become obsessed with EMPs granola recipe and have made it twice in a week and a half. (I substitute more oats for the coconut.)
Another go-to is a riff on Stella Park’s granola. I brown the butter and use more oats instead of the wheat bran. I never add flax and play with all of the add-ins. I like to add vanilla. For my chocolate loving friends, I will throw in some mini chips while it is cooling and then stir around to make snackable clusters.
I appreciate the link and your prep method. My sister adds chocolate as she uses the scoopful. Something about the chocolate melty factor. Flax is a decent binder but tiny seeds are a tooth issue sometimes for me.
I’ve been making granola for my breakfasts for the last 18 months or so… I don’t like most of the store-bought gluten-free cereal options and I’m a cereal for breakfast person (at least, until it’s cold enough to make baked oatmeal). I’ve tried soooooo many recipes but here is my “best of” version, which is not super sweet.
Dry:
6 C oats (or 5, plus 1 C buckwheat or steel-cut oats)
About 2 C total chopped nuts, pepitas, and unsweetened coconut flakes (roughly 2/3 C each)
*I make kits of this - store in gallon bags in the pantry. Walnuts, pistachios, sliced almonds, whatever…
Wet:
1/2 C oil (canola or sunflower > olive oil)
1/2 C maple syrup (or honey, but not molasses)
1 t salt
Spices: about 1 t cinnamon, 1/2 t cardamom, and a dash of ginger. This is highly variable and depends on what I grab.
Mix wet, add dry. Stir well to combine.
Split onto two baking sheets lined with parchment. Bake 25-30 min at 275-300, rotate the sheets, and bake another 25-30 min. Remove from oven and cool completely before transferring to storage container.
If I add dried fruit (eg freeze-dried berries or cranberries/raisins), I mix them in before transferring to the storage container. I also do NOT stir during baking or cooling because I prefer the big clusters!
Thanks, Mara. I appreciate learning about your approach. I’m not a fam of store brand granola or sweet cereals. Hot cereals are my favorite especially cream of rice topped with granola.
Puffed rice or quinoa like this base recipe are also a favorite with heated milk(s). Once I find my brand of puffed rice I’ll be making a batch.
And chewy, dried apple rings always join the add on mix.
Interesting, I haven’t thought to add something lighter like puffed rice. Thanks for sharing these! (Side note since I mentioned being gluten-free: Rice Krispies contain malt and are not gf. Some store brands, including Wegmans, are gf! Safe and less expensive - not what we usually find in the gf world…)
Agree. I prefer this brand but only find it online. My sister buys it for granola.
