Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Homemade Maple Nut Granola – Crispy, Crunchy, Crumbly and Cheap!

This short and not-too-sweet granola video recipe is a sort of test run for another video I'm going to be shooting for About.com when I'm in New York City this week (details tomorrow). Granola is amazingly simple to make, and significantly cheaper than those "gourmet" varieties sold at the local health food store.

Besides rolled oats and some type of sweetener, there really are no rules for granola. Here I've added a nice trio of crunch and texture with almonds, pumpkin seeds (that I call sunflower seeds in the video for some reason!), and coconut.

Dried fruit is also a common ingredient, with raisins being the most common, but you know me, and my love (borderline fetish) for curr
ants, so I used those. This recipe is also very light in regards to the sugar. Some granola recipes are closer to candy than cereal, and call for making heavy syrups with which to soak the dry ingredients.I prefer a looser, crumbly, barely-sweet granola, but if you do want yours a bit sticker, simply double the maple syrup called for below. Also, as I mention in the video, if you don't already have a silicon baking mat, making this recipe would be the perfect excuse to get one -- they are so incredibly useful, you won't regret it.

This type of granola makes a great cereal, and I would think you parents out there could turn this into a fun project to make with the kids. The fresh fruit and yogurt parfait you see at the end of the clip is perfect for kids of all ages, and really makes a great breakfast or snack. And yes, I did steal the idea from McDonald's. Enjoy!



Ingredients: (this can easily be doubled)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped or slivered almonds
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup shredded coconut

1/3 cup dried currants or raisins
Bake at 250 degrees F. for 1 hour (or until golden brown), stirring every 15 minutes.


View the complete recipe

24 comments:

Jessica said...

If you don't have a silicone mat (the shame!) could you also bake this on parchment paper or wax paper?

Birder said...

This is great! Fruit and granola with yogourt is a favourite treat.

What, in your opinion, would you say is the ideal ratio of granola to yogourt?

Chef John said...

Jess, something tells me it may stick to paper, but I've never tried.

birder, I like 40% granola to 60% yogurt

Don Madrid said...

Thank you Chef John.

You always seem to post vids that are relevant to what's going on in my house at any given time.

This week my wife started eating both granola and All Bran instead of her usual Spanish breakfast of galletas and café con leche.

Now I can make her custom granola and be a hero!

Now if you can only post an All Bran recipe...I'm sure it would involve cardboard and a paper shredder.

Fresh Local and Best said...

I've never made granola, and didn't realize how simple it is. I love the idea that you can control what you put into the mix. I will try this recipe soon! Thanks for the post!

MCO said...

Hey chef, parfait in french means perfect :D

Minh "Sa" Chau said...

Could you eat this with milk, like cereal?

Chef John said...

yes, you can! it's very good

Kim from Ma said...

Oh. My. Goodness.
This granola is amazing!
I've never made granola before and was inspired by how easy it looked (and it was). But I could not imagine how super tasty it would be! My husband loves it as well (darn it) so I will be making more. This might be a nice Christmas item to bag up for friends instead of inundating them with more cookies.
Thank you so much!

Unknown said...

I tried this! And it's amazing!!! I used coconut oil, honey instead of maple syrup, added a few teaspoons of water to the brown sugar-honey-salt-oil mixture, and substituted the "sunflower" pumpkin seeds with chopped walnuts, the roasted flavor is intense!
Used a baking sheet, brushed some coconut oil, the granola did not stick^^
How can you not try making it when it's so yummy? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I made this and it's awesome. The only thing I should've done differently was double the amount.

Patrick said...

How can you make a bar out of it? Adding honey?

Chef John said...

Probably. Give it a try and let me know!

Anonymous said...

I just made a second double batch of this and it is so GOOD and EASY! My daughter and I are enjoying it with yogurt and fruit.

I did not have the mat to bake it on so I just used an ungreased cookie sheet and it worked fine. Just make sure you stir occasionally while it bakes and cools.

While it was baking I was thinking of other combinations to try...coconut oil, macadamia nuts, and dried pineapple sounds good...spices, flavorings...the possibilities are endless!

Thanks for the recipe!

Yvonne said...

I made this today! but i doubled the honey amt as the first batch wasnt very sweet. I also use normal oats which make the cereal looking like baby food when i mix with milk. Next time i would get rolled oats instead. Great recipe and the granola taste great! Thanks for sharing!

Hilary said...

Thanks for this take on granola! I am an avid granola-maker. This recipe is very nice but might I also recommend a bit of vanilla for some extra yum factor:)
I also have been adding cinnamon lately and may not ever stop. SOOOO good on ice cream, yogurt, or even eaten as a cereal (with coconut milk in the carton for best results).
Mmmm.

Mimi and John said...

Someone mentioned All Bran. Any chance one could put All Bran or Bran Buds into a granola and not have it be awful? Hard to find good granola that isn't all fat or sugar so making my own would be great. Thanks for any help you can give.

scf_farms said...

Ca n you substitute something else for the pumpkin seeds? If so, what?

Chef John said...

any nuts!

Unknown said...

Hi Chef John,

I'm an avid reader of your blog and a subscriber on YouTube. After my fiasco with an erroneous recipe found elsewhere, I followed yours exactly with the exception of adding pecans instead of seeds. The results were marvelous and I'm so happy to gift these yummy goodness to my boyfriend. Thank you!

Julie

Cherio said...

I've lost count how many of your recipes I have made! This is an awesome delight to make. Thank you for teaching this former 'can't boil water' into a half decent home cook. Love your blog and videos. Never change look forward to them. thanks again Chef John

Unknown said...

I just made this tonight to go with the Benjamin Franklin breakfast bowl! I have to say it is absolutely amazing!!! I love all of the flavors and textures ��. I will definitely make this again. I didn’t have any dried currants so I substituted dried cranberries and raisins. It was perfect! Thanks for the recipe!!

ereader said...

Hey, Chef John. A heads up on pumpkins seeds would have been wonderful!

I love your Ben Franklin breakfast and the associated granola recipe. I first made the granola with sunflower seeds. But you mentioned “pumpkin seeds” and they looked so nice and big being folded into the mix. So, like an idiot I searched three grocery stores to find them.

Oh, my goodness, those destroyed my granola! Are you foodies kidding? Are we supposed to eat the damn hulls because they are coated in maple sugar goodness? Yikes. What a mess. So, I sorted thru all of it, sorting out and tossing the coated pumpkin seed HULLS!

Then I sat down for hours and hulled the rest of the bags of seeds. What a mess. I had to use needle nose pliers from my Leatherman and an iSesamo electronics pry blade from my toolbox. What a bloody mess. I am still vacuuming up the crap. But I individually squeezed each hull with my pliers then put the pry blade in and twisted to get maximum yield (I have the pictures to prove it).

I had no idea and I am still confused over hull-less pumpkin seeds, hull pumpkin seeds with hulls (like the David brand I bought) and pepitas (pumpkin seeds with hulls removed), seeds from oilseed variety pumpkins etc. etc. Any of it, or a warning, would have been great to know . . . I guess I’m just a bumpkin.

Please let your less food-educated people know there is a difference out there. Who knew? Not me. Could save another soul hours of confusion and work.

Unknown said...

Thank you chef great recipe.
If i want to use honey instead of maple syrup what should i change?