Granola


This is claimed to be the best ever granola, rivaling "upscale granolas costing $7.00 - $10.00 per pound" (which are not gluten free). This one is gluten free. I'd have to vicariously agree with the claim, even though it is my brother's <grin>. The origin is a granola bar recipe that my brother modified from The New Best Recipes,Cook’s Illustrated, 2004, p 822. He reduced the amount of honey, and this made for a granola that is less like a candy bar and more like chunky granola cereal. More honey makes for larger chunks. My brother feels that the secret to success is that nuts and oats are individually toasted.

You can make the granola with individual types of fruit - raisins, dried blueberries, craisins - or you can purchase a non-fat dried fruit medley, such as the trail mix from Target or CVS. Granola can be very high in calories.

This version of granola was "slimmed down" from the original. Granola can be very high in calories, principally due to fat from the nuts and potentially fat from the toasting of oats with additional oil. This recipe omits added oil, and thus meets my preferred nutrition profile. Although the nutritional analysis is for 1 ounce, a three ounce serving makes a good breakfast with yogurt.

You can setup an account at www.nutritionaldata.com and then enter and save your own recipes. The website counts calories and other nutritional elements. I try not to use it much!! The website is a little quirky: to modify am existing recipe, bring up the saved recipe, click the create recipe button, name the new recipe (important) and then change the recipe and save it. You can either keep or delete the old recipe.


http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/recipe/1451588/2
Granola
Low fat version Higher fat version Ingredient
340 gm (about 4-1/3 Cups) 600 gm (7-1/2 cups) Gluten Free Oats, such as Bob's Red Mill or Cream Hill Estates
85 gm (1/4 cup) 165 gm (1/2 cup) Honey
7 gm (1 teaspoon) 13 gm (2 teaspoons) Molasses
25 gm (about 1/4 cup) 50 gm (1/2 cup) Raw almonds
25 gm (about 1/4 cup) 50 gm (1/2 cup) Raw walnuts
25 gm (about 1/4 cup) 50 gm (1/2 cup) Raw pea cans
6 gm (1/2 teaspoon) 12 gm (1 teaspoon) Salt
0 109 gm (1/2 cup) Canola oil
4 gm (1 teaspoon) 12 gm (1 tablespoon) Pure vanilla extract (X2 for CVS imitation vanilla); You can add more.
55 gm (1/4 cup) 165 gm (3/4 cup) Packed brown sugar
2 gm (1 teaspoon) 4 g (2 teaspoons) Cinnamon (You can add more)
13 gm (about 1/3 Cup) 0 Sweetened dried cranberries (or just add 1 cup of non fat trail mix for all of the fruit)
110 gm (about 2/3 cup) 0 Raisins

 

  1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven (set to convection) to 375° F.
  2. (optional) Line an 18 by 12-inch rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and prepare with non-stick spray.
  3. Toast nuts on the baking sheet. Bake them for about 10 minutes or until slightly brown.
  4. Pack the brown sugar into a measuring cup and transfer to a small sauce pan.
  5. Using the same measuring cup as will be used for the honey, measure the oil (if you are using oil)
  6. Combine oats, oil and salt in a large bowl and mix until the oats are evenly coated. Transfer the mixture to the baking sheet (save the mixing bowl for step 9) and spread into an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes, stir, and bake another ~5 minutes until slightly golden. Remove the oats, and lower the oven temperature to 300° F.
  7. Place the brown sugar into the sauce pan. Measure the honey and pour it into the sauce pan which already contains the brown sugar.
  8. Place the nuts in a food processor and process until coarsely chopped, about ten 1-second pulses. Alternatively, you can hand-chop the nuts.
  9. Heat the sauce pan until the brown sugar is fully dissolved, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and cinnamon (and any of the optional spices you might like) and set aside.
  10. Combine the oats, nuts and honey mixture in a large bowl and stir with a silicon spatula until the oats are evenly coated with the honey mixture. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet and spread in an even layer. Wet the spatula with water and forcefully pack the mixture into a very flat even layer.
  11. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Cool the baking sheet on a wire rack. While the granola is still warm, break into pieces.
  12. Store in a ziplock bag. If you are not consuming the granola regularly, store this in the freezer to prevent the nut oils from becoming rancid.