Granola
Is it a cereal? A snack? A condiment?
Somehow granola has became part of my daily breakfast routine most mornings. I eat it with yogurt and/or cottage cheese. And I’ve been known to adorn a bowl of ice cream with a small handful of a particularly nut filled version. If I acquire a bag that is super clumpy that particular granola becomes a snack item.
It is a food that feels endlessly variable, but, in fact, most recipes follow a remarkably consistent template. At its core, granola is simply rolled oats coated with a sweetened fat and baked until crisp. Maybe we eat so much granola because it sits halfway between being a breakfast cereal and a cookie. The oats provide the structure, but the balance of fat and sugar is what determines whether it eats like a wholesome breakfast or a crunchy dessert. For many artisan granolas, the trend is toward less sweetness and more emphasis on olive oil, spices, nuts, seeds and salt.
The template for making granola is to mix oats, nuts, seeds, and seasonings together. Then warm the oil and sweetener together. Next the dry ingredients are mixed with the wet ingredients then spread out on sheet pans and baked at a relatively low temperature. Stir the mixture occasionally, or don’t stir if you want those clumps, (some makers add egg white to ensure clumping). The cooling stage is crucial. Granola often seems soft when it comes out of the oven but crisps as the sugars and fats cool down.
The beauty of granola it is that within a certain constraint involving oats or other flakes and some kind of liquid binder the variety on offer is kind of mind blowing. Some are super seedy, others rely on nuts for crunch. Some include chocolate or spice. Some are clumpy (I love that kind), while others are more free flowing. Some lean sweet while others less so. Madeleine makes her own and mentioned that she always halves the amount of sweetener called for in a recipe. I got in the habit of adding a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce to the other liquid ingredients to lend a more savory/umami note. Whatever your desires you can find a granola that suits.
If you want to try making your own, the most economical option, here is a common ratio. It is a good starting point if you want to make your own.
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup nuts and seeds
⅓ cup oil
⅓ cup sweetener
1 teaspoon kosher salt.
From there, you can move sweeter, nuttier, fruitier, or more savory. Madeleine generously shared her own recipe.
MADELEINE BRAND’S GRANOLA
3-4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup seeds, e.g. pepitas
1/2 cup coconut chips
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbs kosher salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger and/or nutmeg
1/3 cup olive oil
3/4 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a bowl mix together the oats, almonds, seeds, and coconut chips.
Mix and melt together in a pot over low heat the syrup, sugar, salt, spices and oil. You can let it cool before the next step but it can be a little warm.
Pour liquid mixture over oat mixture. Mix throughly. Spread out over parchment-lined baking sheets. Cook for 30-ish minutes. Mix raisins in after it’s baked. Eat in fistfuls
________________
Maybe, like Madeleine, you’ve created a finely tuned recipe over the years. But until you decide to make your own, bakeries here in the Southland have done all of us a service by offering their own versions. Pick up a bag while you browse the pastries on offer.
Here are some of my favorites:
Bearclaw Kitchen
Saturdays at Playa Vista and Hollywood farmers markets
Six different varieties
Bub and Grandma’s
Eagle Rock
Rolled oats, pepitas, shredded unsweetened coconut, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, light brown sugar, maple syrup, sunflower oil, kosher salt
Cafe Tropical
Silverlake
Katy Peetz’s banana granola online
sprouted gluten free oats, bananas, pumpkin seeds, coconut sugar, maple syrup,
coconut flakes, raisins, buckwheat groats + more
Colossus Bakery
San Pedro
Nut and seed maple based granola made with oats, whole almonds, seeds and maple syrup. It’s vegan and gluten free.
The Ecology Center
Campesino Granola with Rolled Oats, Buckwheat Groats, Puffed millet, walnuts, pepetas, sunflower seeds, flax seed, amaranth, Dry fruit: Satsuma, Strawberry, Mission Figs, Pluot Plum, Panella sugar, canella, cardamon, salt
Friends & Family
East Hollywood
Oats, almonds, walnuts, cashews, pepitas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flaxseed, unsweetened shredded coconut, spices, maple syrup, applesauce, oil, a mixture of dried fruit. Find the recipe in Roxana Jullapat’s book, Mother Grains.
Gjusta
Venice
Pumpkin seeds, black sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, oats, maple syrup, almonds, sea salt, cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom, grape seed oil
Joan’s On Third
Beverly Grove
Oats, pecans, almonds. pepitas, coconut, brown sugar, honey, apple juice, maple syrup, vanilla, salt
Mother Moo Creamery
Sierra Madre
Organic oats, pepita seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flaxseed, almonds. pecans, coconut, and toasted in maple syrup
Petitgrain Boulangerie
Santa Monica
Pain au chocolate granola and Almond granola. Both have caramelized croissants.
Proof
Atwater Village
Oats, sesame seeds, pepitas, sunflower seeds, maple syrup, cardamom, salt and olive oil
Roan Mills
Farmers Markets: Wednesday and Saturday Santa Monica, Sunday in Hollywood and Atwater
Sycamore Kitchen
Mid-Wilshire
Coconut, maple, pecan
Valerie
Glendale
Roasted oats with sliced almonds, pepitas, sunflower seeds, and black sesame, fleur de sel Chocolate: Rolled oats with hazelnuts, almonds, pepitas, cocoa nibs, and cocoa powder
The Village Bakery
Atwater Village
Rolled oats, coconut, almonds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, sunflower seeds, cranberries, honey, canola oil
Thanks for the local suggestions. The amazing thing to me is when you’re in a grocery store in Italy for instance how good the regular granola and yogurt is.
Thank you for the fun article. What kind of sweetener and what kind of oil do you like to use?