Crunchy Granola Treat

... a sweet little distraction

Nov 14, 2024

With all that is going on in the world right now my creativity and my writing have been feeling blocked and I am feeling somewhat lost with things. I have been getting out for my runs and burning off anger and sadness and grief, but I am feeling that I need something else. Getting into my body helps me get out of my head and the negativity spiral that happens there. Another thing that helps get me into my body is cooking. After eating potato chips and salty cheese puffs for a few days I decided I needed to nourish my body, so I whipped up a batch of my favorite granola. And I thought since I can’t invite you all to my kitchen to share it with me, I would at least share my recipe.

Granola is one of those foods that can be eaten any time of day, for a meal or a snack. And while my original recipe came from my dear friend Carl, I don’t think I have ever made the recipe the same way since. And that is the beauty of granola. It is so understanding and forgiving, (don’t we all need more of that right now?) and will usually work with multiple substitutions. It allows creativity to flow as well, and makes your house smell amazing. It is so easy to make at home and the cost is much less than buying it from the store. And while you can buy fancy “boutique” or “healthy” granola you can also get the grocery store version which tends to be more like candy IMHO than granola. I like to think my version is delicious comfort food at its finest.

According to Wikipedia, here is a little granola history.

Granula was invented in Dansville, New York, by Dr. James Caleb Jackson at the Jackson Sanitarium in 1863.[ The Jackson Sanitarium was a prominent health spa that operated into the early 20th century on the hillside overlooking Dansville. It was also known as Our Home on the Hillside; thus the company formed to sell Jackson's cereal was known as the Our Home Granula Company. Granula was composed of Graham flour and was similar to an oversized form of Grape-Nuts. A similar cereal was developed by John Harvey Kellogg. It too was initially known as Granula, but the name was changed to Granola to avoid legal problems with Jackson.

The food and name were revived in the 1960s, and fruits and nuts were added to it to make it a health food that was popular with the health and nature-oriented hippie movement. Due to this connection, the descriptors "granola" and "crunchy-granola" have entered colloquial use as a way to label people and things associated with the movement.

It is kind of funny how granola has become one of my “signature recipes,” as I have often been called a “crunchy granola” type, although I grew up just missing the hippie movement. I have also made granola not just my for home use, but in the cooking jobs where the oats were measured in pounds and not in cups. My favorite way to eat granola is just in a bowl with yogurt or milk or cottage cheese and some fresh fruit, if that’s in season. But it also is great on a salad (instead of croutons), on top of ice cream, as a topping for baked sweet potatoes (or how about a sweet potato casserole with a granola topping!!! How good does that sounds for Thanksgiving. You’re welcome!) Of course it is also just fine to eat handfuls of granola as a snack. If you follow my guidelines it is the perfect blend of carbs, protein and healthy fats.

And of course granola makes an awesome gift. Holiday gift, hostess gift, or just an I am thinking of you gift. No one is sad to get homemade granola. And I love to store it or gift it in a mason jar. Keeps it fresh and pretty to look at.

Here is the recipe and I really hope you will give it a try. Please let me know what you think if you do!

Ali’s Nutty Maple Granola

4 cups rolled oats (not instant)

1 cup raw, chopped pecans, cashews, almonds, walnuts and/or peanuts*

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/2 cup raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup coconut oil (or your preferred oil or butter)

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt

1 cup dried cranberries (or your choice raisins, dried cherries, apricots, etc)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, seeds, coconut, flax, cinnamon.

Heat the maple syrup, oil, water, so the coconut oil melts and the mixture is pourable. Pour liquids over oat mixture and stir really well to combine everything. Spread on two baking sheets, sprinkle with salt, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove pans from oven and rotate shelves. Bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on racks for granola to crisp up. When cool transfer mixture into a large bowl, then add fruit and mix until evenly distributed.

*Feel free to swap out and interchange the type of nuts and seeds you use. Make it your own! Other variations can be swapping out honey for half or all of the maple. You can also absolutely leave out the coconut if that’s not your thing. And if you can’t do nuts, you can absolutely swap for all seeds. I have also been known to add some peanut butter or tahini (maybe 1/4 cup) to the liquid ingredients and you get another whole flavor explosion.