Honey Vanilla Granola

May 22, 2014

in Fuji FP – 100c Negative +

Don’t have much to say about granola, other than that it’s delicious. I went through a phase where I made 12 kinds of granola in 6 days. I became obsessed. I knew it became a problem when I had to run out to Target for more mason jars at 9:30 PM.

A week later and $285 poorer, I had granola coming out of my ears. Nuts and specialty honey are expensive. My kitchen looked like a farmer’s market stand, my fridge full of milk, and my garbage full of empty FAGE Greek yogurt containers. I wish I could describe precisely what happens when dairy exists my husband. I love you, but don’t ever have dairy products again, k? What do you do with an influx of granola and a gas-y Tas? Send it all to his office. Let The Starters guys deal with it.

This was probably my favortie granola recipe that was produced by granola week. I love huge chunks in my granola. The egg whites are the key to getting those clusters. You can use this method of making granola with any recipe if you already have a favorite. But trust… you want this recipe in your arsenal. You’re welcome.

Honey Vanilla Granola

w/ almonds & pecans

makes 3 large mason jars plus a small jar

Dry:

2 cups rolled oats, thick cut are best

3/4 cup steel cut oats, like John McCann

1/2 heaping cup almond meal

1 heaping cup pecans, halves or pieces

1 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/4 tsp salt

Wet:

1/3 cup buckwheat honey, or other

1/4 cup brown sugar

5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 egg whites, beaten until large bubbles form

Preheat oven to 300˚F. Line a sheet pan with parchment.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients, except the egg whites, until homogenous.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until all the dry ingredients are covered. Add the beaten egg whites and mix again. Make sure everything is coated well!

Pour the granola onto the sheet pan. Press down and out to the sides. It should cover the whole sheet pan. Smooth out the top and be sure it’s all even.

Bake for 40 minutes rotating half way through. Let it cool for 15 minutes. Break it up into large, or small, chunks. The granola will still be moist at this point, don’t stress! Once it’s all broken up and evenly distributed on the sheet pan, place it back in the oven. Bake for an additional 8-10 minutes. Let it cool completely before doing anything at all with it!

Store it in mason jars. Open a farmer’s market stand.

Enjoy!