Do you ever stand in the cereal aisle, lusting over the boxes of granola, wondering to yourself, “Why are those boxes so tiny? And why on earth are they so expensive??” Me too, my friend. Me too.
Making your own granola really isn’t difficult at all. I’ve adapted this recipe from Deb Perelman’s The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook – she’s already done the hard work of perfecting the granola crunch, sweetness ratios, and all that. I just simplified it a bit further by only using what I had on-hand. She uses a 1/4 c of wheat germ in her recipe, and I’ve yet to find it at our local grocery store – so mine has no wheat germ. Feel free to add it back in if you like! I also added a bit of nutmeg and let the nuts be an optional addition. If I’ve got some on-hand, I’ll add them. But this granola is still delicious without!
I remember when my mom would make granola it always seemed to be a big production – huge bowls of ingredients, multiple pans in the oven at a time, and all that stirring. So much stirring.
For this recipe you just need one bowl (okay two actually), one pan, and you only have to stir the granola once in the middle of baking. Super simple. And delicious. Enjoy.
Simple Granola
Ingredients
- 3 c old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 c sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 c walnuts optional
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- Dash of nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp coarse salt
- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 1/2 c real maple syrup
- 1 large egg white
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 F.
- Stir together oats, coconut, walnuts (optional), cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Add olive oil and maple syrup to oat mixture, stir together.
- Whisk egg white in a small bowl until frothy. Add to oat mixture and stir well to combine.
- Spread oat mixture on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes, remove from oven and use a spatula to turn granola, being careful not to break the pieces too much. Bake for 25-30 more minutes, or until granola is brown and toasted.
- Let granola cool completely on the pan. Move to an airtight container and store up to two weeks.
- Serve with milk, over ice cream, or sprinkled over plain Greek yogurt with a drizzle of honey and some dried cranberries - that's my favorite!
Notes