I went to pastry school for two reasons. The first was to learn to make croissants. I had given it a go once or twice, the first time in woodland hills in 100º heat, and the second with spelt flour, and both attempts had turned out less than spectacular: leaden and heavy.
The second was to collect some killer recipes: the perfect brownie, chocolate chip cookie, ice cream base, etc. My teacher, Claire Legas, a tough cookie (sorry) who had worked at Absinthe, Moose’s and the French Laundry, made it evident that while the former requirement could be met (my croissants turned out flaky and light under her tutelage) the latter never would.
In the third week or so, when I asked her if the croissant recipe in our packets was her favorite go-to, she exclaimed indignantly, ‘Of course not! I’m not giving you my recipes!’ During the custard portion of our class, a classmate expounded on the deliciousness of Delfina’s buttermilk panna cotta. ‘Oh, I have that recipe,’ Claire said casually. ‘Can I have it?’ the classmate asked eagerly. ‘No!’ came the reply. ‘Some things you have to work for.’
When school was over, Claire kindly let me do my internship with her at her new place of work, Cafe Cacao in the Scharffen Berger building. When she had me make the best granola I’d ever tasted, I didn’t even consider asking for the recipe. Instead, I repeated the quantities over and over in my head until I’d committed them to memory, and wrote them down as soon as I got home from work.
When I emailed Claire a few years later to confess, I feared she would be cross. But instead she said, ‘Good for you! Half the battle is just knowing which recipes to steal.’ Then she told me that the recipe isn’t even hers; she stole it from chef Casey Hayden at Moose’s many years ago. So I plucked up the courage to ask after her insanely flaky pie dough recipe. ‘No,’ she told me. ‘Pie dough is sacred.’
I’m always wary of recipes that claim to be ‘The Best’, so, while I have never experienced a superior granola in the wide world, I have refrained (barely) from calling it that.
I will, however, tell you what makes this granola so special:
1) an unconscionable amount of butter
2) brown (or unrefined) sugar and maple syrup
3) a mixture of seasonings (cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, orange zest and a hefty amount of salt) that blend together seamlessly to create fullness of flavor without tasting like one particular thing
4) large, whole almonds and cashews for crunch, texture and good-for-you-ness
5) a brilliant baking technique which results in large sheets of crispy, golden granola, almost like a delicate granola bar, which can be crumbled into clumps and clusters
Jay and I know it’s summer when we eat fresh berries and stone fruit topped with creamy yogurt and a dusting of crispy, oaty loveliness every morning for breakfast. We take it with us on trips, such as the music camp we’ll be at this coming week. It is quick to put together and bake, and it keeps well for at least a month. You will need two rimmed baking sheets and some parchment paper, but this granola doesn’t need to be stirred every 10 minutes like most others, thus it is mostly hands-off.
I’ve made many, many batches of this granola over the years. I’ve come to tweak it very slightly, reducing the butter from 8 tablespoons down to 6, and the salt from 1 1/2 teaspoons down to 1. It is pretty fabulous as is, but sometimes I switch it up with equally lovely results, adding a bit of chopped candied ginger, wheat germ, or sesame seeds to the mix. Once I browned the butter with a vanilla bean, and this made a gorgeous topping for maple bourbon ice cream. I’ve included a honey-cardamom variation below. Feel free to go crazy; just don’t add any dried fruit before baking as it may burn.
And unlike Claire, I won’t make you work too hard for the recipe.
Great granola:
Maple Bourbon Brown Butter Granola
Cardamom Honey Granola
Black Sesame Granola
Chocolate Granola
Stolen Granola
Adapted slightly from Casey Hayden of Moose’s via Claire Legas
Makes 3 – 4 cups
2 1/2 cups (1/2 pound) whole oats
1/2 cup (2 ounces) whole, raw almonds
1/2 cup (2 ounces) whole, raw cashews
1/3 cup (2 ounces) light brown (or unrefined) sugar
zest of 1 small orange
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (approx.) freshly grated nutmeg
3 ounces (6 tablespoons / 3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup (2 ounces) maple syrup
1 teaspoon salt (yes, 1 teaspoon)
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325º. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Have a second rimmed baking sheet and piece of parchment ready.
Combine the oats, nuts, sugar, orange, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, melt together the butter, maple syrup and salt, stirring to dissolve the salt. Pour over the oat mixture, tossing to combine thoroughly.
Dump the mixture onto the lined baking sheet, and spread it into a thin sheet no thicker than an almond. Ideally, the edges will be slightly thicker than the center as they will bake faster. Lay the second piece of parchment over the granola, and place the second sheet pan on top, right-side up, making a little granola sandwich.
Slide the whole thing into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate and continue baking another 10 – 20 minutes, peeking under the parchment to make sure the edges aren’t burning, until the granola is a rich golden brown. It will still be soft, but will crisp up as it cools.
Let the granola cool completely in the sheet pan sandwich, then break up and store in an airtight container for up to a month (or possibly more.) Enjoy over fruit and yogurt for breakfast, alone for a crunchy snack, or over ice cream for a decadent dessert.
I can't believe there are no comments here, yet! This is the best darn granola I've ever had, and it makes it even more special that I get to make it myself (I've made several double recipes:). Thanks for inspiring, Alanna!
I have been using this recipe for a while now ever since I found it on your site. Everyone who eats it loves it and I tell them your great story o “stolen granola”.
Aw, I’m so glad you like the recipe! Thanks for the sweet note. :)
You are so sweet – I'm glad you're enjoying the recipe!
Thank you for sharing the recipe. However, I'm confused with the recipe. Why is 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup or 1/4 cup all are 2 ounces?
Thanks for the excellent question. The ounce amounts in this recipe are all weight measurements; 1/2 cup of nuts, 1/3 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of maple syrup all happen to weigh the same 2 ounces.
Hi Alanna,
This looks delicious! Is it possible to substitute honey instead of maple syrup? Or for the sake of flavors, should we stick with the maple syrup?
Thank you!
Hi Samantha,
I've tried this recipe with agave syrup in place of the maple, with great results, but I have yet to try it with honey. I'm pretty confident that honey would be a delicious and fine substitute, though I've heard that it's sweeter than maple syrup, so you may want to add a touch less (say, 3 tablespoons) and then taste the mixture before you bake it, and add in the remaining tablespoon if you think it wants it. As this isn't an overly sweet granola, I'd wager that even a 1:1 substitute would be just dandy, but there's my thorough answer. ; )
Please let us know how it comes out. Happy baking!
Samantha,
I just baked a batch of this granola with 3 tablespoons of honey instead of the 1/4 cup of maple syrup, inspired by your query. (I also used cardamom in place of the other spices, and omitted the orange zest). It is fantastic, and I've posted the variation above.
Thanks!
I think it was the honey cardomom variety that I got to try last week. It was delicious and of course a massive improvement over the boxed stuff which became incredibly unappealing about a year ago. I made a batch of the original Stolen Granola this afternoon and it's soooo good. It's a nice simple recipe that might have taken me 10 minuets to make (before baking) and I love the texture of the final product. I can't wait to eat it with yogurt for breakfast like I used to.
It was DELICIOUS!! Best granola I've ever had! Thanks so much Alanna!! :)
Joelle – I agree, it is hard to go back to pre-fab granola after knowing how good the homemade stuff can be. I'm stoked that you gave this a go – thanks for the comment!
Samantha – so glad you liked it! Thanks again for the inspiration, re: honey.
Oh my! This granola is so delish!! Thank you for posting it.
With my first try yesterday it turned out chewy, not crispy as I had hoped. I wonder what caused this? I followed your recipe exactly, it was in the oven for a total of 40 minutes. Do you have any ideas?
The parchment paper I used on the top was foil on one side, parchment on the other. Maybe it trapped too much moisture?
Hm, I'm sorry to hear about the chewiness! I'm guessing that it just needs a bit more baking time. Spreading it on an open sheet pan and toasting it in a low oven (maybe 300º) for 10 minutes or so should crisp it up. You can also leave it in a turned-off oven with a pilot light overnight, and that can dry it out.
If you try it again: be sure to spread the granola thinly all over the baking sheet (see the photo in the cardamom granola recipe – spread it to the edges, rather than how it is pictured here). You may want to give the granola an extra 5 minutes in the oven the first time around, as well (but check it at 40 to make sure it doesn't get too dark).
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I used honey and walnuts and added vanilla and almond extracts. This is by far the best granola I have ever made!
I'm so glad to hear that! Your version sounds delicious. Thank you for the sweet comment! :)
no oil!! Lovin' it!
This is fabulous granola. Thank you for making a believer out if me. I had never had much success making granola before.
Thank you for giving it a go, and for the great feedback! I'm really glad you're liking it. :)
I never knew granola could taste this good.
I also added coconut, dried pineapple, flax, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, rolled dates, raisins, and dried cranberries. Then I convected it at 350.
Fabulous. Thank you very much!!
This was aaaaaaahmazing. So yummy. Thank you, this will be a staple treat from now until forever!
Yay! So glad you liked it. :)
I’m excited to try this recipe, but am hoping to make it into granola bars to help get through long days at the office. I’ve never made granola or granola bars, and am looking for a little guidance. Would you have a recommendation to make into bars?
Hi Melanie, If you’re new to granola and bars, I would give the recipe a try as-is your first time around. It would take some tinkering to get it to hold together into a bar – it might need extra sweetener and some ground flax or chia seed to stick it together. I’ll let you know if I work on it! And let me know if you try the granola – it’s still my favorite after all these years. :)