I have a love/hate relationship with granola. I love the taste. Real talk, I can eat granola on top of yogurt or fruit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If I’m being completely honest, I really have done just that. But I absolutely do not love the price of store bought granola. It’s super expensive considering the price of the individual ingredients and how much granola those ingredients yield coupled with how easy it is to make. Most of all I ‘m not in love with the fact that as you make your way through a box or a bag of granola, all of the delicious granola clusters disappear and you’re left with half a bag of granola crumbs. Because I eat so much granola, I had to find a homemade recipe that didn’t skimp on the flavor, or the clusters. If you love granola clusters as much as I do, you must try this!
Homemade Granola
Makes 3 to 4 cups
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (1/2 pound) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) whole, raw almonds
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) whole, raw cashews
- 1/3 cup (2 ounces) light brown (or unrefined) sugar
- zest of 1 small orange
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 3 ounces (6 tablespoons / 3/4 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup (2 ounces) maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325º F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Have a second rimmed baking sheet and piece of parchment ready.
- Combine the oats, nuts, sugar, orange, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, melt together the butter, maple syrup and salt, stirring to dissolve the salt. Pour over the oat mixture, tossing to combine thoroughly.
- Dump the mixture onto the lined baking sheet, and spread it into a thin sheet no thicker than an almond. Ideally, the edges will be slightly thicker than the center as they will bake faster. Lay the second piece of parchment over the granola, and place the second sheet pan on top, right-side up, making a little granola sandwich.
- Slide the whole thing into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate and continue baking another 10 to 20 minutes, peeking under the parchment to make sure the edges aren’t burning, until the granola is a rich golden brown. It will still be soft, but will crisp up as it cools.
- Let the granola cool completely in the sheet pan sandwich, then break up and store in an airtight container for up to a month (or possibly more). Enjoy over fruit and yogurt for breakfast, alone for a crunchy snack, or over ice cream for a decadent dessert.
I use this double baking sheet trick for a variety of granola flavor combinations like maple brown butter, rum-kissed coconut, or cardamom honey! The clusters do not disappoint!
Source: Food52
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