Almost every weekday, I have the same breakfast: plain greek yogurt topped with this granola! I used to buy granola by the bag and it would last me just over a week. It was only within the last year that I started making my own granola, and it all started when I went to a brunch potluck at a friend’s and someone brought homemade granola. I was so impressed by this (my regular response to something I’ve never tried making) and was told it was really easy to make, so I set out to the internet to do some research!

After sourcing a few recipes and trying some different combinations, I ended up creating my own recipe for granola that suits my taste. Sweetened by maple syrup and molasses, bound by butter and olive oil, spiced by cardamom and a little cinnamon, and protein-ed primarily by almonds, I found a great combination. The nice thing about granola is it’s so easy to experiment and substitute ingredients, and surprisingly difficult to actually mess-up. After making a couple batches I hope you’ll just start adapting it to better suit your taste.

This recipe lasts me about two weeks (or 10 servings). I normally have a generous ¼ or ⅓ cup on top of yogurt per serving. It also adds a nice crunch topped on oatmeal, makes a great cereal with your favourite milk (almond milk, soy milk, etc.), or serves as a snack on its own. I also find it to be less sweet than a lot of the packaged granola you find at the grocery store. If this is too sweet for your liking, just cut back on the maple syrup! Not sweet enough? Pour the syrup (or whatever you decide to use to sweeten it) with a heavier hand. The beauty of home baking.

I’d love to hear how you alter the recipe to suit your taste – comment, tweet, or message to let me know!

Go-to Granola!

Yield: About 3-4 cups of granola

Notes: This is a very versatile recipe. I’ve included a few notes below with substitution ideas, but get creative. This recipes creates a more oatmeal-rich granola – this is intentional for a couple of reasons: 1) I’m a huge fan of oatmeal (savoury oatmeal breakfast bowl, anyone?); 2) Oats are a lot cheaper than fancy nuts and legumes, and can easily stretch fewer ingredients further; 3) Fibre!

If you use some of the optional add-ins listed further below under Ingredients, I would recommend decreasing the maple syrup by up to half to balance the sweetness. 

Ingredients:

Dry

• 2 ½ cups uncooked oats (most recipes call for rolled or steel cut, however, I have also tried this with quick-cook oats and have had success)
• 1 cup coarsely chopped, raw almonds (I use almonds with the skin on; you could easily substitute or add in slivered almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, etc.)
• ⅓ cup pepitas (whole pumpkins seeds, raw)
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds (whole, raw)

Wet

• ⅓ cup butter (could substitute this for additional oil, like canola or coconut)
• 4 Tbsp olive oil (see above substitution suggestion)
• 6 Tbsp maple syrup (could substitute this for slightly less honey or agave syrup, about 4 Tbsp)
• 1 ½ Tbsp molasses
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• A few grinds of black pepper

Optional:

• ½ cup dried berries or fruit
• ½ cup chocolate chip

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Coarsely chop the almonds (if using; other nuts suggested could likely be added in whole).
4. In a medium bowl, add in all of the dry ingredients. Give it a quick mix to combine.
5. In a small saucepan over medium heat (or in the microwave if you prefer), melt the butter.
6. Add the rest of the wet ingredients to the melted butter and stir.
7. Pour butter mixture into dry mixture and thoroughly stir, evenly distributing butter mixture throughout. Everything in the bowl should now be coated with the butter mixture. If it is too dry, you can add a few splashes of your preferred oil. If it is too wet, you can add a few tablespoons of oats.
8. Evenly spread granola mixture onto prepared baking sheet.
9. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until granola is evenly browning. About halfway through baking time, use your heat-resistant spatula to mix around the granola on the sheet – be sure to lift it from the bottom of the sheet so it browns evenly.
10. Allow to cool to room temperature.
11. Add your assortment of optional add-ins and mix lightly to combine.
12. Granola will last in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of weeks.

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