Using two cookbooks for one oft-used recipe, mainly the penciled notes in each, finally got old. It’s time to write it out. Is it mine, or theirs (see footnote)? A now-retired newspaper food editor once told me not to worry: “At conferences, we all agree, if you change more than the amounts of salt and pepper, it’s then your own recipe.” It still feels like plagiarizing, though.
This is a no-fat, fairly low-sugar granola. Store-bought granolas, including restaurant granolas, are whole grain, but if you’re wanting healthy, realize they’re loaded with oil and sweeteners. Keep a tub of this granola in your fridge, and, at about 1 teaspoon of sugar a serving, granola can be a daily cereal not an occasional “morning dessert.” Making it in a large skillet adds to the convenience; takes less than a half-hour.
- 6 cups rolled grains, mostly or all oats
- 2 cups raw nuts and seeds, variety, with large ones roughly chopped
- 1 cup shredded, raw coconut, preferably unsweetened (optional)
- 1 cup dried fruit, if not raisins then chopped to raisin size (optional)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 Tablespoons carob powder OR cocoa powder (optional)
Place heavy, 12-inch frypan on stove on medium heat. After 3-4 minutes to preheat, pour in the grains. Toast for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add nuts and toast for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. While granola is cooking, in a medium bowl mix sugar, salt and spices, breaking up clumps. Add coconut to pan, and toast for 2 minutes, stirring more frequently.
Turn off heat but leave pan on burner. Pour sugar mixture evenly over surface of granola then mix in, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes. The sugar somewhat melts into the other ingredients, but you don’t want it to stick to the pan bottom and burn.
Place pan on cake rack to cool, about an hour. Add dried fruit, stir well. The 10 cups will fit into a 2-quart plus 1 pint container. Store in refrigerator. Makes about 20 half-cup servings, with milk or yogurt. Or sprinkle over fruit; you know the routine.
Notes
Granolas are made for variations. Virtually any kind of nut is fine. Often, I mix in hulled, raw sunflower seeds with slivered or sliced almonds. Peanuts don’t seem right but might be perfect for others. Sesame seeds taste great here, but being so small they’re not ideal to mix. I think chopped dates are wonderful, but raisins sure are easy to find. Natural food stores with bulk-food aisles are great for granola ingredients.
Rolled grains. Rolled oats should make the majority, but a cup or so of rolled rye and of rolled barley add variety in color and somewhat in taste. I don’t use rolled wheat because I eat so much wheat elsewhere in the day; a half-cup of wheat bran or wheat germ is nice, though (part of the total 6 cups grain). Don’t use instant or quick oats etc. because they’ll turn to powder. No steel-cut or stone-ground, Irish or Scottish, oats. Go for old-fashioned, five-minute oats.
Carob powder? It’s no more a chocolate substitute than tofu is a meat replacement. Carob is mellower and muskier than cocoa. Buy in the bulk aisle so you’re not stuck with a pound of it. The granola will be fine without it, too. A half-cup either of honey or maple syrup can replace the brown sugar; in that case mix the spices first into the pan.
Credit: Still Life with Menu, Mollie Katzen, 1988; How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman, 2007.