granola

A friend and I were recently having a conversation about breakfast, and how we both have a favourite breakfast food that we want to eat every single day. For me, that food is granola. 

I don't like my granola to be too sweet (even though I love sweet treats, as you can see from the recipes on this blog!). A lot of grocery store granola is way too sweet for me. Or else it's dry and tasteless. Or it has too much oil. I started making my own but it took a while to get the hang of it.

I think this recipe is going to be my go-to recipe from now on. This takes about 5 minutes to toss it all together and then you just spread it out on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for about 40 minutes.

Granola
Adapted from The Kitchn

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 

1 cup unsalted cashews

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Mix the oats, cashews, seeds, salt, cinnamon and cardamon together in a large bowl. Stir to combine. (Don't put in the dried fruit yet! It goes in after you bake it.)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, maple syrup and vanilla. Pour over the oat mixture and stir thoroughly.

Turn the granola out onto a rimmed cookie sheet and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the mixture is light brown and toasty. Stir every 15 minutes or so for an even color and to make sure the granola is cooking evenly.

Remove from the oven and add the chopped dried fruit. Stir to combine.

Let cool completely. The granola will continue cooking just a bit in the cooling process — it will firm up/dry out, so if it seems a little too wet don't worry.

Store in an airtight container. 

*I like to eat my granola with a few spoonfuls of Greek yogurt and some fresh fruit - usually berries but chunks of banana or peaches are also good. Or you could just eat it with milk.