Chef notes
If you’re like me, there’s always an abundance of dried fruit, nuts and chocolate laying around from previous baking projects. While you could, of course, just snack on these odds and ends, I like putting them to use by baking up a big batch of granola. This recipe offers what I think is the perfect balance of sweet, salty, crunchy and chewy.
To make it, add the oats, cinnamon, honey, coconut oil and all the tasty add-ins in a bowl and mix to combine. Transfer the mixture to a baking sheet and bake until golden brown. Once the granola is cool, add cacao nibs and stir to combine. If you add the cacao nibs in before baking, they’ll melt in the oven, making a gooey mess rather than a crisp granola. To store it, place the granola in a sealed container for up to five days at room temperature.
The joy of granola is that there are endless ways to customize it to suit your tastes, based on whatever ingredients you have at home. Don’t have coconut oil? Use olive oil. Prefer the flavor of maple syrup to honey, or even agave? Go ahead and use it!
Get Ingredients: If you don’t have everything you need on hand, you can easily purchase all of the ingredients (just click the orange button below that says ‘Get Ingredients’). You can pick and choose exactly what ingredients you need based on what’s in your pantry and they’ll be on your doorstep before you know it.
Technique Tip: To get shiny granola that clumps together, add an egg white to the granola as you’re making it. You won’t taste any eggy flavor, but it’ll give you picture-perfect granola.
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup chopped candied ginger
- 1/2 cup freeze-dried bananas
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup cocoa nibs
- 1/2 cup dried dark cherries
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Preparation
1.Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Arrange the oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350 F.
2.In a large bowl, combine the oats, candied ginger, freeze-dried bananas, pumpkin seeds, cocoa nibs, dried dark cherries, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, honey and coconut oil. Once the mixture is thoroughly combined, transfer to the prepared baking sheet and spread in an even layer.
3.Bake for 20 minutes, tossing halfway through.
4.Once finished baking, allow the granola to cool for 40 minutes before breaking it into bite-size pieces and tossing it with dark chocolate chips. (Allowing the mixture to cool for this extended period ensures that the ingredients cluster together.)
5.Serve as a snack or over a bowl of your favorite yogurt.
