Granola: Easiest Thing Since Sliced Toast

I never cooked my way through or even into the No. 1 food best-seller in America right now, Julia Child's opus, but in 26 years of eating for a living I have certainly mastered more daunting recipes than I could ever count. Guess I'm an idiot, or just a toast eater, because one I have never braved turns out to be so liberating I wonder why in the name of oatmeal I've been letting my consort squander absurd amounts on something similar at the Greenmarket. I got the recipe from a literal great Cook, Diane, and it's a testament to how good it is that I took all kinds of cheap liberties and still produced breakfast Cracker Jack. I'll keep my multi-talented friend's secret and just say I mixed 3 cups of oats with about half a cup of wheat germ, 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds, 3 tablespoons sesame seeds and half a cup each of raw pumpkinseeds and whole almonds (she also uses wheat bran, oat bran and roasted soybeans). Instead of adding crazy-pricy maple syrup as she does, I blended in about 1/3 cup of really good honey someone gave me, plus some sea salt, because it's the next best thing to a little bacon. All that was spread on two peanut-oiled baking sheets and toasted at 300 degrees for 35 minutes or so. Halfway through I worried I had chintzed too much on sweetener and drizzled more honey over. (Diane had warned about not letting it burn, but this was no problem.) The bad news is that it's almost too satisfying, and snackable; this batch will probably be gone tomorrow. But the good news is that I know there are endless variations. And if it's this easy, bring 'em on.

Want more granola? Browse over 30 recipes for making this crunchy treat at home

by Regina Schrambling

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