Rachel Frick Cardelle

Most important thing to note when making this granola is that it is entirely flexible. More or less on the nuts and/or dried fruit. Hell, if you like chocolate chips, throw those into it (after it is done baking)… just don’t mention it to any responsible grownups in your household.

I make a large quantity and store a bunch in the freezer. You can obviously cut the recipe down to suit your needs and storage capacity.

Oven @ 360°

Mix in a large baking pan:

• 84 oz. old fashion oats (two large bins)
• 20 oz. walnuts
• 10 oz. sliced almonds
• 16 oz. chopped pecans

Note: the amount of nuts is arbitrary and should be based on your own tastes and preferences. Or on the tastes and preferences of those who will eat the granola. As one with lots of Scottish blood, I am often driven by the prices of the nuts I am buying.

Add together in a microwaveable bowl and then microwave until the butter melts:

• 1.5 cups of brown sugar
• 1.5 cups of honey
• 1.25 lb. of butter
• 1.25 cup of canola oil

Notes: I usually put in the canola oil first, so that when I measure out the honey it just slides right out of the measuring cup. ALSO, the first two ingredients and the last two ingredients can be exchanged for one another. So, for example, if you are making this for a vegan diet, you can just have three cups of brown sugar and 2.5 cups of canola oil. What we love about the honey is that it leads to chunks of granola. Also, if I am feeling especially health conscious, I cut back on some of the quantities of these last four ingredients.

Mix the bowl of melted ingredients into your oats mixture really well. I find a wide, flat wood spatula works well for this part. Be sure to really dig into the corners and edges of the pan when mixing so everything gets coated with the liquid mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes then take it out of the oven and mix the whole thing up. Put it back in and bake for another 20 minutes. Again, take it out and mix it up, making sure to get into the corners and edges again so nothing sits on the bottom of the pan and burns… unless you like burned granola. No judging. From then on, take it out every 10 minutes to mix it up. Stop baking when it gets to the level of brown that you like. For me, this is usually around 60 minutes.

If you want dried fruit (I like yellow raisins and Alberto prefers brown raisins, so I put in both) you can either put these in during the last 10 minutes or so of baking or even after the granola is completely done.

Most importantly, enjoy making this. Food is love.