Granola is one of my favorite things to bake. I love seeing the seeds and oats co-mingling in an old porcelain bowl and the sight of the sweet gilded grains straight out of the oven. And there’s something culinarily sublime about mixing the dry grains with the hot maple syrup, honey and cinnamon that makes Granola an olfactory snapshot of New England on a fall day.

This recipe can be completely customized to your tastes and serves simply as a guideline for breakfast bliss.

Golden Granola, makes 2 quarts

1 cup honey
2 Tbs maple syrup
¼ tsp sea salt
pinch cinnamon
2 cups whole rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
¾ cup shelled pumpkin seeds
¾ cup peanuts
1 Tbs chia
1 Tbs coconut oil or butter
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your oven to 225F.

Prepare a sheet tray with parchment paper lightly coated with cooking spray. This serves to create a non-stick surface. Feel free to use oil or butter to lightly cover the parchment.
Heat the honey and maple in a sauce pot over medium heat until just simmering, about three to four minutes. Add the sea salt and cinnamon and turn the heat off. Add the fats and allow to melt before stirring them to combine.
Mix all the seeds, nuts, flakes and oats in a large bowl. Carefully add the hot sugars and mix with a spatula, or wooden spoon, until everything looks consistently sticky. Spread the raw granola evenly over the sheet pan lined with parchment. Bake at 225F for 30 minutes, and in ten-minute intervals after.
A good method for checking to see if the granola is done is to remove a spoonful of hot granola from the pan and letting it cool completely. The finished product will yield a golden granola that is crunchy, but not sticky or tacky. If your granola cools with a bit of tack, just pop it back into the oven for another few minutes. Your patience will be rewarded.