Granola OG or Nuggety: Make a lot/share a lot

Crunch and chew, sugar and spice - it's a morning-to-midnight munch

This week has been impossibly hard. Again. While we were still reeling from the horrific shootings in New York and California, children were killed in school. Again. I’m quiet, because I’m sad. And angry. I do what I can – prod those in power and support those working so hard for change – but it doesn’t feel like much these days. And so, I cook and bake and encourage you to go into your kitchens and find joy in feeding yourselves and others. Making something with your hands is a kind of meditation and sharing what you make is an act of kindness. I’m sending this newsletter to you today, as promised, with the hope that you’ll make something and share it. And hug those you love.

Hello! Hello!

The first time I made granola, I was so pleased with myself you’d have thought I’d invented electricity. Not that granola is hard to make – it’s a cinch. Not that it’s complicated – it’s not. Or that it’s esoteric in any way – negative again. It’s just that there’s a particular kind of glee derived from making something at home that you’d normally buy ready-made. The pleasure is doubled when what you’ve made is terrific, and my granola was really good.

I’ve been making granola for a while. I made it often and more often when I was at home in Paris. My Parisian friends, some of whom could spin sugar on a moment’s notice or debone a chicken while chatting about Proust (slight exaggeration, but you get the idea), were genuinely surprised when I’d bring them a bag. “You made it!” they’d exclaim, and I’d nod and blush, embarrassed that they’d fuss over something so simple. Because, really, it’s dead simple.

OATS AND SEEDS AND NUTS, OH MY

At its heart, granola is oats, sweetener (usually honey or maple syrup), some kind of liquid fat (butter or a type of oil) and add-ins, like seeds, grains, nuts, dried fruits and spices. It’s the choice of ingredients and the combination of them – the proportions, too – that makes one granola different from another. It’s also what makes it so much fun to play around with the recipe.

I hadn’t changed my house granola much and then, recently – as in just a couple of weeks ago – I made my most radical move: I coated the oats and company with egg white and went for the laissez-faire bake: I put the mix into the oven and didn’t touch it until it the all-done buzzer rang.

I did it all in the name of nuggetness. Something I didn’t care about … until I did.

Photo: Mary Dodd

The granola I’ve made and loved for so long is the run-through-your-hands type, the type where each little oat flake, nut and seed retains its individuality. I’d snack on it, of course, but mostly I’d think of it as an ingredient, and I’d use it in cookies and cakes and as a sprinkle over yogurt or ice cream. And when I made a savory version, I’d use the mix as a sprinkle over a salad or a topping for a vegetable "crumble".

It wasn’t until I noticed that everyone in my family, Gemma included, was snacking on a clustery, clumpy, nuggety granola that I decided it was time for a tinker.

THE EGG IS THE ANSWER

Thanks to Food 52 and Sarah Jampel, I discovered that coating the granola mix with egg white before it goes into the oven, coupled with leaving it alone all through its slow bake, turns out granola that you can break into cute, crunchy, snackable nuggets. Revelation!

I’m in love with my new Nuggety Granola but I’ve still got a soft spot for the OG version, so I’ve included both recipes for you today (you’ll find the Nuggety No-Stir Granola in Playing Around).

It’s a holiday here in America and the unofficial start of summer, so if you make granola now, you’ll have it to snack on over the long weekend – a good thing! I’ll see you back here on Tuesday, when I’ll have something exciting to tell you. And no, I’m not giving hints.

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