Maple Granola

Lunch! If only it were June and these were farm strawberries…

I often eat yogurt for lunch, and recently I decided to jazz it up with granola. The grocery store shelves had so many choices that I became nearly comatose in the cereal isle. I was saved by a small elderly woman asking if I could reach something for her on a top shelf. (This happens to me a lot, as I am on the tall side.) Thank you, small elderly woman. My other observation is that granola is crazy expensive, especially if you want a product with a short ingredients list. Does this make sense?

Why I felt compelled to then purchase a bag of grocery-store granola, only a psychiatrist can explain, but I do now store my homemade granola in the sturdy, stand-up zip bag that the commercial stuff came in. (Okay, that bag is not worth $4.99.)

ATK to the rescue! If you know what I mean by that, you have probably been sucked into the whirling vortex of America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country. (They are one in the same, as far as I can tell, except Christopher Kimball and co. wear different aprons in the two different public television cooking shows. Did you know that Christopher Kimball is leaving the TV shows? I’ll try not to sob audibly, but I’m going to miss his dweeby bow tie.)

In any case, I easily accessed a couple of different granola recipes using my multi-site subscription to the ATK online conglomeration, cha-ching, cha-ching. (Oh, come on, it’s worth it!) One thing I’ve learned about recipes, though, is that instructions are not sacrosanct (even from the test kitchen). So, following is the ATK granola recipe with my adjustments. The result is an absolutely addictive pan of deliciousness, way better than anything you can buy in a store and extremely easy to throw together. (Use your own container — it’ll save you $4.99.)

First of all, I cut the ATK recipe in half. If you have a big family, go ahead and use the full recipe, which calls for a typical rimmed baking sheet — in commercial kitchens, that’s called a half-sheet pan. For my halved recipe, I use a quarter-sheet pan. (Oh, good grief. It’s already confusing.) Anyway, a quarter-sheet pan is a great size for lots of uses, and a good one isn’t expensive at all. I also found that baking the granola for the amount of time that ATK suggests was way too much for my smaller pan and my oven. I made the first batch with pecans and baked it for 35 minutes. It too brown and the nuts were scorched. Bummer. I use a gas oven, which isn’t as precise as an electric one. (But aren’t flames more exciting?) The next time I used almonds, which seem heartier to me, and cut back the baking time quite a bit — perfection! The first time you try a recipe, set your timer for several minutes before the recipe time and keep an eye on it. Do not be seduced by a crossword puzzle.

The maple syrup is front and center. Isn’t it beautiful?

I find that for scaling recipes, either bigger or smaller, it’s helpful to use weight measure instead of volume. I no longer bother with packing brown sugar into measuring cups or wrestling with the age-old question: do I scoop the flour into the measuring cup or sprinkle it in? If you don’t already have a kitchen scale (or you have one and don’t use it), get with the program! A scale makes cooking faster and easier, not to mention more precise, which leads to better results. I find that using grams instead of ounces is even better, so I’m giving you the recipe with three-way measurements. I generally leave teaspoon/tablespoon measurements as is. I am not about to weight a 1/4 teaspoon of salt. And sometimes scaling a recipe down calls for advanced math (Algebra, or something crazy like that). When I got to the second ingredient of the full recipe — 1/3 cup packed brown sugar — I was stumped. I had to Google it. Mercy.

Maple Granola

• 3 tablespoons maple syrup (you know where mine comes from!)
• 36g or 1¼oz light brown sugar (that’s 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon table salt (½ tsp if you’re using kosher salt)
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 200g or 7oz old-fashioned rolled oats (that’s 2½ cups)
• 140g or 5oz raw almonds, chopped coarse, by hand (that’s 1 cup)
• 1 cup raisins or other dried fruit, chopped (optional)

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. (1/4 sheet pan for this recipe – see the note above)
2. Whisk maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in large bowl. Whisk in oil. Fold in oats and almonds until thoroughly coated.
3. Transfer oat mixture to prepared baking sheet and spread across sheet into thin, even layer. Using stiff metal spatula (or bottom of a one cup measuring cup), compress oat mixture until very compact. Bake until lightly browned, 25-30 mins, rotating pan once halfway through baking. (28 minutes is exactly right for my oven.) Remove granola from oven and cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 1 hour. Wait for it, wait for it…
   

   Here it is baked to golden brown and cooled as I’m breaking it up

   Break cooled granola into pieces of desired size. Stir in dried fruit here at the end. (I forgo the fruit and make my pieces of granola fairly large, kind of like little cookies. If you want to add dried fruit, so you can call it health food, it’s best to break up the granola quite a bit. You’ll see what I mean.)

4. Granola can be stored in airtight container for up to 2 weeks, but trust me, it will not last that long!

For a link to the full ATK recipe, “Almond Granola with Dried Fruit,” click here. The recipe is “locked,” which means you have to register with ATK to view it, but apparently you can do that for free. (It must be a free trial, right?) You can always double the above recipe. I am ever hopeful that I will not be sued. Aren’t you glad you’re cooking with me?!