I eat this granola parfait at work every morning. A friend on my team recently told me that my spoon makes a clinking noise against the glass that drives him nuts. It's now a personal challenge to stop doing it. I'm finding it really difficult.
Anyway, the point is, I LOVE granola, yogurt and berries. So portable and delicious. But granola isn't always the healthiest thing around. So I started making my own a few years ago, and haven't set foot in the cereal aisle since. I've slowly dialed down the sugar and oil, so now it's almost like a European muesli, but the deeply roasted nuts and coconut flakes keep it firmly in the granola camp.
I've provided measurements as a starting point, but I have to admit, I almost never measure anything when I make it. This recipe is a blueprint for my perfect granola. But maybe you like it sweeter, or the chewiness of some dried fruit, or a more interesting flavor like ginger or maple... Tinker with it and make it your own.
Deeply toasted granola doesn't need much sugar
Basic Granola Recipe
Yield: Makes about 6 cups
Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 30 min Total Time: 40 min
Ingredients
3 cups rolled oats (not instant)
2 cups nuts (I like sliced almonds and chopped pecans)
1/4 to 1/2 cup seeds (pepitas, flax, chia, whatever you got)
1 cup unsweetened coconut (I love the kind with big flakes)
3/4 tsp table salt, maybe a tad more (don't use big kosher salt chunks - fine salt distributes better)
Good dash of cinnamon
3 Tbs coconut, grapeseed or canola oil
3 Tbs honey
Preheat the oven to 300F / 150C. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a big bowl. On low heat, melt together the honey and oil in a small saucepan and stir to combine. Drizzle the melted mixture over the granola and stir through. Cover a big baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the mixture evenly across. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring a few times, til almonds and oats are golden.
If you like big chunks of granola, pack it down and don't stir, and consider adding a bit more honey, oil and/or brown sugar to your recipe.
Let cool. To store, pick up the parchment paper from either side and roll into a cone to pour granola into your container.
A note on nuts: Buy pecans chopped rather than whole - much less expensive. And keep all your nuts in the freezer so they stay fresh.
A note on storage: Invest in a big plastic storage container - mine is 2.5 pint / 2.3 L
Variations
Fruit: Add raisins, dried cranberries, or dried cherries after the granola is baked
Spice: Try ground ginger, cardamom, allspice, pumpkin pie spice or more salt in the dry mixture.
Sweeteners: Add 2 Tbs brown sugar to dry ingredients. Or replace/combine honey with maple syrup or agave
Nuts/Seeds: Chop up pistachios (pairs great with cherry), walnuts (great with maple); add sunflower, chia or flax seeds