I’m obsessed with making my own granola. It’s fun, delicious, and I love adding it to my Greek yogurt in the morning with a touch of maple syrup, blueberries, and sliced banana! My friend Ruth gave me this recipe — adapted from one by America’s Test Kitchen — and I went all out and splurged by adding macadamia nuts.
The only thing other I did differently is that I heated the brown sugar, oil, and maple syrup separately before baking everything, instead of just whisking those wet ingredients together. I also bought this nut chopper from Amazon, because it saves time and is less messy. I also added some mini chocolate chips and dried cherries for a little more zip. One tip: My oven may be on the hot side, but I recommend checking your granola after 35 minutes so it doesn’t get too brown. I’m thinking about making a big batch for holiday gifts!
Without further ado, here’s the full recipe — with comments — as it was handed down to me:
“The secret to this recipe is to firmly pack the granola mixture into a rimmed baking sheet (ideally lined with parchment paper) before baking. Once it is baked, you’ll have a granola ‘bark’ that you can break into crunchy clusters of any size.
Also, you can adapt the ingredients according to your taste preferences, mixing in your favorites, omitting others. You can mix in dried fruit after the baking process. The recipe below includes my favorite combinations. The key is to maintain the rolled oats and the syrup mixture, but you can omit or substitute any of the nut/seed combinations. This recipe makes one large baking pan full. It maintains its freshness for two weeks in an air-tight container (if it lasts that long!). It takes 10 minutes to prepare.”
Katie Couric’s Favorite Granola Recipe
(Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook)
Ingredients
Syrup mixture
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- ⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 4 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ teaspoon salt
Oat mixture
- 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
- 3 cups of your choice of unsalted nuts, seeds, and if desired, unsweetened coconut flakes
Optional add-ins
- 1 cup chopped almonds (raw)
- 1 cup chopped pecans (raw)
- ½ cup pistachio nuts (whole, roasted, unsalted)
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds (pumpkin seeds are also a nice alternative)
- ¼ cup or a few big handfuls (to taste) of unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set oven to 315 degrees.
- Thoroughly whisk syrup mixture ingredients in small bowl: maple syrup, brown sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla, and salt.
- In large bowl, separately mix oat ingredients: oats, nuts, seeds, and coconut.
- Fold syrup mixture into oat mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Transfer completed granola mixture into prepared baking sheet and spread across sheet into thin, even layer. Compress mixture until very compact. Bake until lightly browned around the edges, 40–45 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Remove granola from oven and cool in pan until room temperature.
- Break cooled granola into pieces of desired size. Stir in dried fruit (if using).
