Recipe: Tracy Granola 11 April 2007 3:06 pm
Posted by Tracy in : vegan, baking, garden, breakfast, school, recipes, eating, books, vegetarian, cooking , trackbackFirst, two non-granola-related news items:
- I got into the Urban Farm class! Yay! Now to use it as an excuse to score a big stack of awesome gardening books!
- Speaking of books, the mail just brought me a library used book sale copy of Jane Brody’s Good Food Book, courtesy of my parents. Shiny! Especially the cover, which says “Living the High-Carbohydrate Way” in huge letters. See? Take that, Atkins freaks! Hee!
Um, I guess the second one is sort of related after all, since granola is full of delicious carbohydrates, mostly complex. And on that note, on to the recipe!
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I’m not a big fan of cold breakfast cereal, and so in general I don’t eat it. Why waste a precious meal on something I don’t particularly like? Granola is an exception, especially home-made granola, because I can fill it with things I do like to eat — oats, nuts, and dried fruit, especially cranberries. Also it goes well with yogurt. Yum. I make granola based on the “Maple Nut Granola” recipe in Moosewood Restaurant New Classics (there’s that cookbook again!), and my older copy of the book is actually broken at the granola pages (30-31, for anybody wondering). At this point, I mostly keep opening it there for sentimental reasons and inspiration: I start with Moosewood’s recipe and add more of everything that makes it delicious, plus a few extra spices (more on that after the recipe).
What You Need
All measurements are approximate; imagine I wrote “at least” or “or more to taste” on every line and you’re starting to get the idea. When in doubt, add a little more of any ingredient, especially anything so delicious you couldn’t resist nibbling during the measurement phase.
- big mixing bowl and stirring implement
- measuring cups and spoons (a 2-cup liquid measuring cup is particularly nice as big enough to combine all your wet ingredients)
- 9 x 13 inch baking dish
- 4 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1/4 cup oat bran or wheat germ
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil (something neutral-tasting, like canola)
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons molasses (the original recipe says not to use blackstrap but it’s never been a problem for me so rock out)
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup dried cranberries
What You Do
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Measure dry ingredients into the bowl, coarsely chopping nuts as needed (whole almonds and hazelnuts are delicious but just a little chunky). Like I said before, don’t hesitate to add a little extra of any ingredient that’s particularly delicious and snackable during this phase (I usually end up using heaping half-cups of nuts, but I might eat them down to regular half-cups by the time everything’s chopped).
- Mix oats, seeds, nuts, and spices well. Enjoy the smell!
- In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine vegetable oil, maple syrup, and molasses. I recommend mixing it, because it looks really cool, but you could probably skip this step if you’re no fun. While you’ve got the oil out, use it to prepare the baking pan (I splash ina few tablespoons and tilt the pan around until the bottom is coated).
- Stir the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and stir until it’s well-distributed and the oats and suchforth are evenly moistened.
- Spread the granola-to-be evenly in the baking pan.
- Bake 30-45 minutes, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes (the original recipe says this is “to ensure uniform baking” but I’m pretty sure it’s just because the smell is too good to resist).
- When the granola is golden brown and has quietly sizzled during at least one stirring, it’s ready to come out of the oven. Let it cool, stirring occasionally if you’re in a hurry for it to cool faster. Mix in the fruit when the granola is room temperature or a little warmer (it doesn’t get baked because it can burn and also so you have something to snack on while the granola’s in the oven or too hot to eat).
And that’s how to make a heaping 8+ cups of Tracy granola, possibly more than enough to fill a half-gallon yogurt tub (very appropriate, since “with yogurt” is my favorite way to eat it). Moosewood says this granola will keep for 7-10 days in a sealed container, but it rarely lasts that long in my house.
Notes and comments: The original recipe calls for only 15-20 minutes of baking, with stirring at 5-minute intervals, but I use raw nuts where the original recipe calls for blanched and/or toasted, so a little extra oven time helps make sure everything gets done (I’ve gone as long as a full hour, but I’m pretty sure that’s overkill). I think maybe the cardamom is the secret ingredient that makes this granola so much like crack, but I’m honestly not sure — all I really know is that a lot of people are seriously addicted. My parents have been hooked on Tracy granola ever since I made them some in January 2006; it’s definitely in the top ten gifts I can give them, and they’ve been known to make a batch last for weeks with careful hoarding. And there I go, bragging about my granola — one more data point for the “Tracy is a gigantic hippie” file.
Comments»
Oh man. Are you telling me I could make homemade granola to go with my (sort-of) homemade yogurt? I think it’s but a short step from there to my ruling the world.
That is in fact exactly what I am saying, and let me be the first to say that I welcome my fruity, nutty overlords. Er, ladies.
I just finished up our last batch of granola a couple days ago, so I’m planning to make more this weekend. Andy doesn’t like maple-flavored granola, but I like many aspects of this recipe, so I may play around with it.
By the way, we’ve decided that your shallot vinaigrette is amazing. I’ve never seen Andy eat so much salad before.
Yay! That’s all super-good to hear, Linley. Please let me know how you like the granola — I’m pretty cautious with maple syrup myself, but I’ve always loved this particular recipe. Like I said yesterday, the great thing about this granola is that it’s not super-sweet, so maybe the blackstrap molasses and all the spices drown out the maple taste to some extent?