Much of the information presented here at The well seasoned athlete focuses on basic cooking skills and technique.  This installment emphasises how to pull together a very simple recipe but fine tune it with a few steps that will get you a better, tastier product.

While I don’t usually eat a big breakfast each day there is one thing that is most commonly eaten in our household.  Home made granola.

The arc of my personal relationship with granola over the years has gone something like this:  started eating the stuff out of boxes (whoa! really sweet); then making my own (not as sweet but still too sweet and usually overcooked); to buying the bulk versions (and working through the myriad of flavored versions) and finally settling on making my own again.

Granola might be one of easiest things to put together.  It requires practically no special equipment or know how.  And with something like 4-6 ingredients that can be mixed together quickly homemade granola can be pulled together for around $2.40 a pound for the most basic of versions to $3.60 a pound for the more zoot recipe we’ll go through here.  That’s quite a bit of savings when you pay as much as $4.99 / lb for the Quaker Oats version while the bulk bins show prices from $5.29 to $3.85 per pound.  The bulk versions are still too sugary for my palate.  Add to this that the purist in me blanches at the thought of pumpkin pie spiced cranberry granola.  It just ain’t right.

Here is the recipe with a couple of tricks that will help you realize a wonderful version of your personalized granola.  Remember that you can customize the recipe in several ways by adding your favorite nut, nut combination, make it a bit sweeter if that is your liking or adding ingredients like flaxseed meal or dried fruit.  The two important tricks here are 1. warming the sweeteners and oil together, adding them to the granola mix, then baking; and 2. add the unsweetened, shredded coconut at the very end of the baking process. Also if you intend to add any dried fruit add it at the end same as the coconut.

Following these steps will make for a better, more evenly toasted granola.

• 4 cup oats
• 1 cup spelt flakes
• ½ cup sunflower seeds
• ½ cup sliced almonds
• ½ cup unsweetened coconut
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• ¼ cup maple sugar
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/8^th teaspoon kosher salt

First mix together the oats, spelt, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds in a large bowl.  Add the salt.

Next in a sauce pan combine the olive oil, maple syrup, honey and brown sugar.    This step will allow you to combine the liquid ingredients together in a more uniform manner and mixing them into the oats/ nut mixture will be much, much easier.  Again it will yield a more uniform seasoning of the ingredients.

Warm this mixture over a low flame.  It’ll take about 3 minutes.  Stir a few times and don’t boil it.

Pour over the oats / nut mixture and mix together well.  Hint:  While you can do this with a spoon or spatula you will find it much easier to do with your hands.  If the maple syrup /honey mix is too warm mix at first with a spoon then switch to your hands.  You can also put on a pair of latex gloves if you want. Mix together until the ingredients are fully coated with the maple / honey mix.

Transfer the whole mix to a baking sheet(s).  Don’ pile it too high and don’t be afraid to divide it between several pans if need be.  It will toast up more evenly and quicker when done in thinner layers.

Bake in a pre-heated 350F oven.  Use a timer and set if for 10 minutes.  When the timer goes off stir the mixture around using a spatula.  Put back in the oven and bake for another 6 minutes then check again and stir from the sides inward.  You’ll see that the granola mix will show you it is toasting from the edges of the pan inward so you’ll want to bring that towards the middle of the pan and mix in well.  Repeat this step again.  Just make sure that it is not getting too dark, too quickly.  Each oven can be different and it’s not uncommon for the calibration to be a bit off.

Next for the last 5 minutes of the baking process you’ll add the unsweetened, shredded coconut (and/ or dried fruit if you want).  We add this at the end otherwise it will over cook during the first phase of baking.  Remember that many recipes will have mix everything together then just toss it in the oven.  Taking the time to separate out the process into several steps will give you a great tasting, more nutritious granola.

Nutrition Facts Serving Size  (85g)  (About 3/4 cup or 3 oz by weight)

Amount Per Serving Calories 360    Calories from Fat 110    % Daily Value Total Fat 12 g 18 %  Saturated Fat 1.5 g 8 %  Trans Fat 0 g    Cholesterol 0 mg 0 %  Sodium 135 mg 6 %  Total Carbohydrate 54 g 18 %  Dietary Fiber 7 g 28 %  Sugars 16 g    Protein 9 g

Vitamin A   0 %  Vitamin C   0 %  Calcium   6 %  Iron   15 %