Recipe: Oat Granola with Nuts and Fruit

[runpunkrun]

This granola comes straight from America's Test Kitchen's How Can It Be Gluten-Free Cookbook. It's crunchy, not overly sweet, and it doesn't like to clump together. Good on yogurt or straight out of a bowl.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oil (45 grams)
3 Tablespoons maple syrup (55 grams)
2 1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar (35 grams)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups rolled oats (245 grams)
1 cup chopped nuts (115 grams)
1 cup dried fruit (optional)

Time: Comes together in under five minutes (if your nuts are pre-chopped); cooks for about half an hour.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. I like to use a 13 x 9 inch sheet pan, what's known as a quarter sheet pan. This amount of granola fits in there perfectly.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt. Mash out any lumps in the brown sugar now.

3. Add your oats and nuts. Stir until everything's coated.

4. Dump onto your sheet pan and spread the granola out evenly. Press it down firmly with a spatula until it's nice and flat.

5. Cook in the center of the oven for 30-40 minutes or until nicely golden. Be sure to turn the pan after 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in pan.

6. Once it's completely cool, break the granola into pieces, add your dried fruit, and store in an air-tight container at room temperature for weeks.

Notes: Measurements in grams are mine. This is actually half a recipe. If you want a lot of granola, double it and you'll have the original recipe. Just put it in a larger pan (18 x 13 inches, aka a half sheet pan) and cook it longer, around 40-45 minutes.

I use olive oil or avocado oil, and I like to put a little extra salt in. Just a pinch. For my nuts I use sliced almonds from a bag, and I'm lazy and don't usually add the fruit, but in the past I've used chopped dried apricots and dried cherries. Both are nice.

Variations: I imagine you could use any liquid sweetener in place of the maple syrup. I've tried it with honey, which makes the granola hard and crunchy, and a little sticky; it totally hangs together in big pieces, though.

If you want it less sweet, just put less sugar in—as I did once on accident; this will also make your granola more loose.

Questions? Ask 'em!

Comments

[nerakrose]

Thank you for this! Its just the excuse I needed to finally make a large batch of granola. I've never made it in the oven before so that'll be interesting. (I usually just make whatever amount I need in a frying pan on the stovetop, it's quick and dirty.) I've also never tried dried apricots in granola! Must try. I hate raisins with a passion so I'm all for alternatives. I've had success with dried pineapple and dried papaya, toasted coconut flakes are also great.

[runpunkrun]

I like this recipe because you just stick it in the oven and it doesn't have to be stirred, so it's very low effort. And I've never had it go stale on me; it lasts for at least a month.

Coconut tastes really good with oats. I think I put dried shredded coconut in the granola bars I used to make.

[nerakrose]

sounds like it! i'll try it, i'm so tired of store bought granola. it never tastes as good as i expect it to. (also, i can add chocolate if i feel like it >:D )

ohh, do you have the recipe for your granola bars? I tried to make some once, but they crumbled apart and i'm not sure what i did wrong.

[runpunkrun]

For my granola bars, I used some variation on Smitten Kitchen's thick, chewy granola bars. Deb provides you with a basic recipe that's really more of a ratio, and then you just do what you want, so they're very flexible. My bars did not crumble apart, and they were VERY THICK but I wouldn't call them chewy. I'm sure if I tinkered with the recipe more I could have gotten them there. Like I don't remember putting in the nut butter; that probably would have helped.