Olive oil, in granola! Who would have thought?! It’s basically the best thing ever. It immediately lends any seemingly basic oat and nut blend a sophisticated sweet and savory vibe that is perfect for topping ice cream, sprinkling on salads or inhaling by the bowlful with almond milk. This particular version is my lightened up take on the famous granola handed out post meal by chef Daniel Humm at New York City’s Eleven Madison Park. I’m lucky enough to have eaten at Eleven Madison Park and I most certainly walked away with my own mason jar of pure granola heaven following an epic meal to remember. That was over five years ago and I’ve just now started making this granola at home. Silly girl.
The first time I whipped up a batch à la EMP, I followed the original recipe to the letter. Mixed in with the ubiquitous rolled oats are pistachios, pepitas, coconut flakes and dried sour cherries. (Don’t swap out the cherries, no matter what. Their tartness takes this granola to another level. A level raisins only dream of, ya dig.) The wet ingredients call for 1/3 cup maple syrup, plus a 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. The result, crazy good, decadent granola.
Decadent, however, is not necessarily the word I aim to use when describing my morning bowl of “healthy” oats, so I knew I had to scale back on the sugar and salt. I omitted the brown sugar completely, which also cuts down on prep time. No need to dissolve the sugar into the oil and maple syrup on the stovetop. Win, win. I also scaled back to a 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Plenty of sodium for my palate and just enough to be ever so slightly detectable in the final product. I also subbed half the pistachios for chopped almonds, because that’s how I roll. The result, I just might like my version better than the original. Nobody tell Daniel Humm though, k?
While I’m not abandoning my former granola ways altogether, sometimes Toasted Coconut Apricot just hits the spot, I will be rotating this olive oil version into my bi-weekly granola making schedule. Yes, there’s a schedule. One bite and you’ll be penciling in an hour for granola baking on Sundays too.
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut chips
- ½ cup raw, shelled pistachios
- ½ cup raw almonds, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup pepitas
- ¾ cup dried sour cherries
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Preheat oven to 300 F. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, coconut, pistachios, almonds, pepitas and sea salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the maple syrup and olive oil.
- Pour the liquid mixture over the oats and stir until everything is well coated. Spread the oats onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake, stirring often until dry and golden brown, 35 - 45 minutes.
- Remove granola from oven, and mix in the dried sour cherries. Allow to cool to room temperature before storing in an airtight container. Granola is best eaten within one week.
Hello! I’ve included this recipe in my list of oat-tastic recipes to check out in my Saturday round-up. Don’t worry: it’s simply a link that takes my readers to your fantastic blog. 🙂 Check it out! http://wp.me/p57tL9-1mA
Have a great weekend!
Lauren / The Oatmeal Artist
That’s awesome! Thanks so much, Lauren!
So excited about making the Olive Oil Granola! I don’t see what constitutes a serving size. I am diabetic so need to count my carbs.
Thanks!
Jackie
Hi Jackie, I hope you enjoy it! For any type of granola, I generally consider 1/3 – 1/2 a cup a serving size.
Sounds scrumptious, mine is in the oven can hardly wait. This seems like a lot for two people, can you freeze it. I’d like to store some n freeze it.
Thank you!! Karen
Oops one more thing do you know the calories and fat calories, I’m using MyFitnessPal.
Thanks again Karen
Hi Karen, thanks so much for commenting! I’m not sure about freezing. It would probably be fine but you might lose some of the crunchiness. As long as you store it in an airtight container, it should stay pretty fresh for about 2 weeks, although it never lasts that long in our house!
I actually don’t count calories so I’ve chosen not to include that information in my posts. Especially with something like granola, where the nuts contribute to a higher fat content, I worry about people focusing on the numbers instead of the fact that they’re eating unprocessed, whole foods. Could you use My Fitness Pal to input the ingredients and calculate based on your preferred serving size?
Hello! My husband has recently fallen off the healthy wagon and landed right in the cereal aisle without any good intentions. I’ve been trying to find hims something, anything, that will curb his desire for childhood sugar bowls, and I think this is just the thing! I’m going to make up a batch this afternoon and wait patiently to see his reaction. So excited! Thank you for sharing it!
Hi Lena, sounds like my husband! He used to eat a bowl of sugary kids cereal almost every night after dinner but now he loves this. We haven’t bought cereal in ages!
Oh yay! I’m so glad you liked them, Felicity! I’ll have to try them with whole wheat flour one day when I’m feeling extra virtuous.