Thursday, March 18, 2010

Olive Oil Granola

As a baker, you get a lot of praise, because well, you make things that people love and then that love transfers over to you. Nice huh? Well with that said, sometimes I feel like a cheat. Most of the time I use recipes rather than making things of my own doing because baking is a science and one that I haven't particularly mastered yet. I know, I know!


It makes me sad to say I do not whisk these ideas up in my own head and I nod my head in shame when people say, "I love YOUR recipe." Well, thanks but no thanks because it's not my recipe, but that's fine by me too because the joy of spreading good recipes is a reward all in itself. My favorite kind of recipes are the ones you can change to your liking, that way I can feel like the recipe has just a little bit of me in it.



For example, this olive oil granola. I don't even know the path this granola took to find me but the last hand off was Shannalee of Food Loves Writing and boy I'm glad I was next in line for this one! I don't usually eat granola often. Granola bars? Yes. Oatmeal? Yes. Regular ole' granola? No. After reading Shannalee's awesome blog post on this beauty, I knew I had to make it. Well, I did and guess what? I simply love it. Wholesome and filled with all kinds of customizable goodness. Add/ subtract/ change what you'd like, and even with all that math, you still end up with some good eats!


Olive OIl Granola

Yields: about 5 cups

Adapted from here.


3 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped

1 cup coconut flakes

1/4 cup flax seeds

3/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

heaping 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

heaping 1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped


Preheat oven to 300 F. In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, flax, coconut, maple syrup, olive oil, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer (use parchment paper or a silpat to make it easier to transfer the mixture later). Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and toasted. Transfer granola to a large bowl and add apricots and cherries, tossing to combine.

11 comments:

  1. I've never made granola with olive oil before, is the taste very different?

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  2. Hi Patty, I'm probably not a good person to ask because this is my first time making granola ever but I can tell you that it was mighty delicious!

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  3. I will be substituting the vegetable oil in my homemade granola with olive oil in future!

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  4. Delicious! I'm making this right now. It's currently in the oven, but I keep tasting every time I stir it, and it's so good!

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  6. But I keep tasting every time I stir it, and it's so good! Awesome...
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