Recipe: Granola

We’ve been trying to find our ideal granola. I like an uncomplicated mix of mostly oats, not overly sweetened, with pieces of dried fruit here and there. Graham is set on adding thinly sliced almonds and is fairly skeptical of all other nuts. We can agree that the clusters are the best part. There are countless delicious granolas to buy, but they’re often expensive and never quite exactly the granola we both want.

Each time we cook a batch of granola, we make a minor adjustment—for example, upping the amount of salt (an overlooked but crucial ingredient), or baking for a few minutes longer than the last time. We’ve tried sweetening with honey, brown sugar, white sugar, maple syrup, and even a combination of all four. Honey alone seems to have won out as our favorite. When we started our granola trials, we looked to Marion Cunningham’s recipe in The Breakfast Book. It remains our biggest inspiration, though we’ve adapted her recipe such that we feel proud calling our granola ours.

You should give it a go. Substitute your preferred nut, leave out the dried fruit it you want, and play around with the baking time. Make it yours.

 

Granola

Granola can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one month.

Makes about 6 cups

4 cups rolled oats

½ cup honey

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

¾ teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup thinly sliced almonds

1 cup dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

In a large bowl, stir together the oats, honey, butter, and salt. Spread the mixture out on a rimmed baking sheet, pressing down with the back of a spoon to encourage the granola to clump. Bake for 30 minutes. Scatter the almonds over the granola and bake until golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Let the granola cool to room temperature. Stir in the dried cherries.