Homemade Super Crunch Granola

My son is an early riser. Regardless of the day of the week, no matter what time he went to bed the night before, you can be sure he’ll be up by 6 A.M., knocking on my bedroom door to ask if he can have breakfast. I hate mornings.

I’ve become complacent since returning to work a year ago, allowing my son to eat pretty much anything he can prepare himself so I can eek out an extra 30 minutes of sleep, even if the quality of that sleep is pretty crummy. I will always be a night owl, shunning the light of day (though there’s very little light at 6 A.M. this time of year!) as long as possible. This means he’s been allowed to eat a ridiculous amount of cold cereal, albeit somewhat “healthier” cold cereal. And I hate myself for this.

I’m trying to change this.

While my daughter has welcomed my overnight steel cut oats experiments with an open mouth, eager to try each concoction and happily devouring anything I put in her path, my son still shuns oatmeal. I can understand. He requires a little more finesse in order to tempt his taste buds.

Enter granola. Similarly power-packed, with much less fuss. No microwave required.

He’s still a little picky about it. He picked all the walnuts out of my prior version. This one, however, received two very big thumbs up. A success! Now if only I could alter his internal clock a bit…

Granola is eternally adaptable, so consider this a jumping off point. High quality ingredients will pay off in spades, so don’t skimp. Go crazy with it! I’ve started keeping a jar at work to mix into my daily Chobani indulgence  Keeps me full most of the day (and away from the Starbucks goodies across the street!).

Homemade Super Crunch Granola

adapted from Jenny Rosenstrach, Bon Appetit magazine, February 2013 edition

This is actually a guideline, because it's a really flexible recipe. Change out some of the fixings and you can personalize it to your tastes.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Servings 12

Ingredients

  

• 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats not quick oats
• 2 cups flaked coconut unsweetened
• 1 1/2 cups almonds chopped roughly
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds shelled
• 1/4 cup ground flax meal
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons raw turbinado sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 large egg white
• 1 cup dark raisins

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Get out a rimmed nonstick cookie sheet and put it aside.
• In a very large bowl, mix everything except for the raisins together. Spread evenly on the cookie sheet.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown and dry, stirring every 10 minutes.
• Once completely cooled, stir in the raisins.
• Store in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 2 weeks (if it lasts that long!).