After trying alot of store-bought granola, I go back to this recipe and added a few ingredients to enrich the flavor, add a touch more sweetness (but not too much). Store-bought I find to be too sweet and have a lot of ingredients that I can’t even pronounce,
nor do I even know what they are!
So easy to dump in a bowl, mix, spread on a cookie sheet, and throw in the oven. It can be broken into snack-sized pieces or crumbled up to top yogurt, ice cream, parfaits, or whatever else
needs a hit of crunchy goodness.
dry ingredients 
wet ingredients 
aromatics
dry ingredients w/ aromatics 
combine all wet ingredients 
after all mixed together
Next step to dump it onto the parchment lined baking
sheet and spread into a thin layer.
Once cooled, break into snack-sized pieces or crumble.
Can’t resist once broken into big chunks!!!!!!
- 4 cups rolled oats
- 2 cups unsweetened coconut
- 2 cups slivered almonds
- 1 cup cashews
- 3 T. light brown sugar use less or more according to your preference, I find this a perfect amount, adding sweetness but does not overwhelm and taste too sweet
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 3 T. unsalted butter, melted optional, but does add depth of flavor
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tsp. Pure vanilla extract
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp cardamom optional
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 cups of your favorite dried fruit such as dates and dried cherries, chopped optional
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Preheat oven to 325 deg.
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Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Prepare dry / wet / and aromatic ingredients and set aside.
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Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until well incorporated and everything is coated and moistened.
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Spread evenly into a fairly thin layer.
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Bake until golden and toasted to your liking, turning the pan halfway through and giving the mixture a stir. Redistribute into a fairly thin layer again.
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Watch closely toward the end of the 30 min. to avoid over-browning.
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Let cool on the baking sheet for ~ 30-60 min. This allows things to solidify so that you end up with some nice chunks of granola.
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ALTERNATIVE #1: Break apart and store big chunks of granola in an airtight container lined with parchment paper – awesome for snacking.
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With the remaining loose granola, add any dried fruit or other add-ins of your choosing and store in an air-tight container lined with parchment paper– awesome for topping yogurt, ice cream, parfaits, etc.
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ALTERNATIVE#2: Break up the entire sheet so it is all loose granola and add the dried fruit or other add-ins here and store in an airtight container lined with parchment paper.
Substitutions can easily be made:
- Cashews → use almonds, macadamias, pecans, pistachios or a combination of all to equal 1 cup
- Coconut → you could sub in some additional nuts here or maybe adding flax seeds or chia seeds
- Slivered almonds → you can also use sliced, maybe sub pine nuts if you’re not a fan of almonds
- Cinnamon/cardamom → you can omit the cardamom or use instead of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice would work well, nutmeg, ginger, or any combination of these aromatics customized to your taste preferences
- original recipe by Michael Symon of The Chew, with my own additions to add more sweetness, moisture, and aromatics.
- recipe can be divided in half. full recipe makes two whole baking sheets worth!!!!
- I have not tried freezing but don’t see why it would not freeze well, if wrapped tightly.
YUUMMMM!!!!!!