I do this funny thing where whenever I get a recipe right, I start putzing around, creating dozens of variations on it. Granola, being exceedingly easy to make, is one of those foods you can tweak and change without fear of completely ruining it. I’ve made probably 30 different granola “un-recipes” in my time. In fact, I’ve never made a granola I wouldn’t eat with gusto. Especially this most recent grainy incarnation containing creamy peanut butter and dutch cocoa.
Ingredients:
6 cups of rolled oats
1/2 cup of millet or quinoa
1/2 cup of shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
1 cup of flame raisins or dried cherries
1/2 cup of organic peanut butter
3 tablespoons of good quality cocoa powder
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup of maple syrup
1 teaspoons of sea salt
Here’s how you make it:
Preheat your oven to about 375 degrees. In a deep baking dish place your dry ingredients, keeping the dried fruit aside for later. Mix until evenly distributed.
In a medium bowl, mix peanut butter, cocoa and maple syrup together before incorporating the olive oil. Once the mixture is smooth, pour it over the grains and mix until the oats are all lightly coated. Spread the uncooked granola evenly in the dish and place in the oven for 10 minutes.
Remove the dish from the oven and stir before placing it back in again to continue baking. Repeat this step as many times as needed to get the granola evenly toasty. I find that it usually takes about 40 minutes to get it just right.
Once the desired consistency is reached remove the granola and let it cool partially for about 5 minutes. Then mix in your dried fruit and allow to cool completely.
This can be stored in an airtight container for 2-4 weeks, but you’ll probably eat it all first. We enjoy this with goat milk or yogurt with sliced fruit!
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