Consider it now deposited.<\/p>\n
As granola recipes go, some are simpler and some are more complex, and this one lies squarely in the middle. I love the idea of a bare-bones, just-the-essentials granola – oats, nuts, oil, and a sweetener of some sort – but to my palate, a great<\/span> granola needs a little more. It needs a variety of nuts and seeds, and maybe a couple of different sweeteners for flavor complexity, and some warm spicing too, like cinnamon and ginger. It may require buying a couple of extra pantry ingredients, but once you\u2019ve got them, you\u2019re set for a while – and for a lot of granola.<\/p>\n Which comes in handy, let me tell you, because as soon as word gets out that you make a fine granola, people will start phoning from across the country, requesting shipments. Don\u2019t say I didn\u2019t warn you. Brandon first tasted this granola shortly after we started dating, on one of his visits to Seattle, and it wasn\u2019t long before I was packing the stuff in a cardboard box and shipping it to him in New York. I\u2019ve also sent some to my mother in Oklahoma. Brandon\u2019s mother first tasted it this past summer, when she stayed with us for a few days before the wedding, and she too has since called to request a special delivery. I haven\u2019t yet filled her order – and may have thus totally<\/span> <\/span>missed my shot at Daughter-in-Law of the Year – but between you and me, I\u2019ve got my eye on Mother\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n Consider it done.<\/p>\n Daily Granola<\/span> The recipe that follows is the way I\u2019ve come to use Nigella\u2019s recipe. Of course, tweak as you will. For example, feel free to use whatever type of nut you like best – just one, or a variety. You could add some flax seeds, if you like, or some shredded coconut. If you like your granola with dried fruit, go ahead and add some – but after baking, not before. And about the applesauce: I like to buy it in those single-serving cups, the kind made to go in kids\u2019 lunchboxes. I used to buy it in bigger glass jars, but I found that it started to go moldy before I could use it all. The smaller containers are very handy that way; there\u2019s less waste.<\/p>\n Finally, I highly recommend eating this granola with plain soy milk<\/a>. I like it with plain yogurt or regular milk too, but soy milk is especially good. This granola also mixes nicely with other cereals, like this one<\/a>, and this one<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dry ingredients<\/span>: Wet ingredients<\/span>: Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat the oven to 300\u00b0F.<\/p>\n In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Stir to mix well. In a small bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients. Stir to mix well. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones, and stir well.<\/p>\n Spread the mixture evenly on two rimmed baking sheets. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until evenly golden brown. Set a timer to go off every ten minutes while the granola bakes, so you can rotate the pans and give the granola a good stir; this helps it to cook evenly. When it\u2019s ready, remove the pans from the oven, stir well \u2013 this will keep it from cooling into a hard, solid sheet \u2013 and set aside to cool. The finished granola may still feel slightly soft when it comes out of the oven, but it will crisp as it cools.<\/p>\n Scoop cooled granola into to a large zipper-lock plastic bag or other airtight container. Store in the refrigerator indefinitely.<\/p>\n Yield: about 10 cups<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I like to think of this space as my personal treasure chest of sorts. It\u2019s a place to keep all my favorite odds and ends, my old dishes and etched spoons, my smudged and splattered recipe cards, the ones with rips and tears and dog ears. It\u2019s my Official Repository of Good Stuff. Every week, I come here, into this warm white space, and deposit something I want to remember: a recipe, a story, maybe a photograph or two. Then, whenever I want, I can pull up a chair and look inside, pulling out ideas one by one, nibbling at crumbs, scheming and dreaming, making grocery lists and dinner plans. It\u2019s very convenient. Much better than sealing things away in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/orangette.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/9560b-granola039-31.jpg\")
<\/a>
I\u2019ve been warned that making my own breakfast cereal – and, what\u2019s more, admitting to doing so – places me firmly within the category of Crazy Hippie, but I\u2019m not afraid. I don\u2019t plan to stop anytime soon. For my money, no store-bought granola can compare to the homemade kind. Plus, have you ever sat at the kitchen table while a batch of granola bakes, reading a magazine and taking slow, deep breaths of the toasty, sweetly spiced air rising from the oven? It\u2019s an experience not to be skipped. Especially now, in February, a month I\u2019d like to skip entirely.<\/p>\n<\/a>
I\u2019ve written about a granola recipe before<\/a>, about three years ago, in fact. For a long time, it was my go-to formula. But then, sometime in late 2005, I picked up a copy of Nigella Lawson\u2019s charming book Feast<\/span>, and lo and behold, her granola caught my eye. I made it, and then I made it again, and well, you know how it goes. With the exception of a few weeks last fall when I was too busy with my manuscript to bake much of anything, I\u2019ve never let my stash run empty. It\u2019s really that good. To be fair, I\u2019ve tried plenty of others too, including a few recipes floating around the Internet, my uncle\u2019s recipe, and one given to me by a friend\u2019s husband\u2019s mother. Though all were very good, none of them hit the spot quite like Nigella\u2019s. (All apologies, of course, to said uncle, friend\u2019s husband\u2019s mother, etc. Nothing personal.) It\u2019s rich but not fatty, sweet but not cloying, deeply flavored but not fussy. It\u2019s just right.<\/p>\n
Adapted from Nigella Lawson\u2019s Feast<\/span><\/p>\n
5 cups rolled oats
2 to 3 cups raw almonds or pecan halves, or a mixture
1 cup hulled raw sunflower seeds
\u00be cup sesame seeds
\u00be cup light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt<\/p>\n
\u00be cup unsweetened apple sauce
1\/3 cup brown rice syrup
\u00bc cup honey
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil, such as canola or safflower<\/p>\n