Homemade Olive Oil Granola

This weekend I made homemade granola for the first time. Wow, was it good. I found the recipe on TheKitchn, one of my favorite sites for recipes and kitchen ideas. They got the recipe from Melissa Clark, a New York Times columnist. Now here I am sharing it with you!

It is so easy and tasty. And you can totally make it your own with whatever ingredients you have, or with what you like. Because that's what I did and it works. It's sweet, crunchy, and full of yummy flavor. Don poured himself a bowl and we had to pry it out of his hands.

It tastes great on it's own, and it would be delicious with some yogurt or with some milk in a bowl. So far all we've done is snack on it right out of the jar. Even Elli's friend thinks it's good and she said she doesn't like granola. So there you go. It passed the picky 7 year old test.

This recipe is a keeper!

Olive Oil Granola
adapted from Melissa Clark

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 small bag of mixed dried berries (cherries, blueberries, cranberries, )
1 cup raw pistachios, hulled
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup coconut flakes

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine oats, pistachios, walnuts, coconut flakes, maple syrup, olive oil, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and well toasted. (I lined my baking sheet with parchment paper for easier clean up.)

2. Transfer granola to a large bowl and add dried fruit, tossing to combine.

Super easy and super yummy. You can click on Melissa Clark's name at the top to go to her recipe. You can see what I left out - cuz I didn't have it.  Stuff like cardamon and pumpkin seeds. I figured it would be fine without it and it was!

Enjoy.

PS. This is not a quiet snack. And it can be messy. The girls left a trail like Hansel and Gretle. So beware!