Best Granola EVER

I had hoped to x-country ski today, but my fears of being overly optimistic have come true.  Unlike my brother and sister-in-law in Boston who are happily snowed in, we got a whopping inch.  Maybe 2 if you squint really hard.  It is not enough to shake a shovel at, but it was nice last night to watch it snow for a while, anyway.

On a sunny post snow day, there is nothing better than the smell of baking granola wafting from the kitchen.  Unfortunately for me, Scotty made it yesterday, before I got home from work.   I missed the prep, but I can reap the benefits of his efforts today, and thought I would share the recipe.  I have not found a person yet who doesn’t like this stuff, and we have had multiple requests for the recipe.

Trust me.  It is the best granola ever.  Hyperbole aside, I’m pretty sure the olive oil that makes it all tender crunchy, mixed with the maple syrup and the bit of salt that balances it all out create some sort of kismet gestalt thing that puts this granola over the top.  I’m not a huge fan of granola in general, but I can eat this stuff by the handful. 

I forget where I first read the recipe… on some other blog, I think… but I do know it is a riff on Nekisia Davis’ Early Bird Granola.  Of course, I have modified the recipe a bit as all granolas are up for creative tweaks.   For example, I’m not a big fan of coconut, but the original recipe calls for chunks of the stuff.  I like it a tiny bit less sweet.  And a little bit more salty. And I throw in whatever raw nuts we have hanging around most of the time.  Always, though, Always stick with the pecans.    Here is my version:

Granola

4 C rolled oats

1 C raw pepitas (hulled)

1 C raw pecans

1 C raw sunflower seeds (hulled)

¼ C light brown sugar

¾ C maple syrup (dark B grade is my go-to)

¾ C light olive oil

1 rounded tsp salt

Preheat oven to 300 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients.  Mix the olive oil and maple syrup together until you get a lovely thick slurry.  Add this to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.  Dump this out onto parchment covered baking sheet and bake low and slow until the granola is lightly roasted.  This will take about 40 minutes making sure you stir it every 10 minutes or so….  This is important because the bottom and edges will brown quicker and you don’t want to be like me when I have had to pick out overcooked nuts burned from neglect….  The more you stir, the less chance you have of that tragedy.  By the end, the granola will smell fantastic and be nicely golden.  Let cool completely before you put into airtight container.  Scotty likes to mix in dried cranberries post baking, but I like it straight up.  No fruit necessary.  They say this will last about a month, but we wouldn’t know.  We go through a batch almost every other week and it is a staple in our kitchen.