This is a great recipe for granola. Some might find it a tad too sweet. Feel free to play around with it - I often add more nuts and trim the sugar. It's supposed to be sweet and salty, but I have cut the amount of salt by quite a bit from the original recipe, which I found in the New York Times Magazine a couple of years ago. I consider this a treat for breakfast - or any time of day. Perhaps not as healthy as a bowl of oatmeal, but just fine from time to time. And don't forget to add fresh berries.
Adapted from original recipe found here.
Servings: about 6 1/2 cups
Ingredients
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup nuts - any combination of pistachios, almonds, walnuts - roughly chopped
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar (or a bit less)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup dried sour cherries or other dried fruit
Directions
Preheat oven to 300°F. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, nuts, seeds, coconut and salt.
In a small saucepan set over low heat, warm the sugar, olive oil and maple syrup until the sugar has just dissolved, then remove from heat. Drizzle this liquid slowly into the dry mixture, stirring to make sure the dry ingredients are coated well.
Spread mixture thinly on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake until crisp and lightly golden, and a deliciously sweet aroma is wafting throughout your kitchen, about 35 to 40 minutes, stirring granola a few times along the way.
Remove granola from oven. Allow to cool to room temperature before mixing in dried fruit and transferring to an airtight container for storage. The shameful secret of this granola maker: I can never wait for that. It tastes great warm, mixed with plain yogurt. The granola can be stored up to 3 weeks without refrigeration, but trust me, it won't last that long.