At the start of a new year, you always hear about “resolutions” to work out every day, cut all gluten out of one’s diet, get eight hours of sleep every night—the list goes on. And while I’m not a big believer in big resolutions, that get carried out for a couple of weeks, I look at the start of a new year as a gentle reminder to get back on track with all the things I happened to let fall to the wayside during the holiday season. So this year, I’m reminding myself not to skip breakfast, try hard not to snooze my alarm, and take Vienna (my dog) on more walks.

For Christmas this year, we gave our friends, family, and neighbors homemade gifts of granola, rather than say, idk, cookies, to help them end the year and start the new one with a healthy habit. It’s a lot easier to make yourself breakfast when you have the tools already stocked, so making a batch of granola, sets you up for the week. You can pair it with your favorite yogurt or milk and load it up with fresh fruit. It is super portable, so if you have to eat on the run, granola is an easy option. Breakfast doesn’t get much easier, in my opinion.

My granola is always packed with loads of different nuts and seeds, to get in some extra protein, not to mention texture and flavor. It’s an adaption from the famous Eleven Madison Park Granola, but pumped up with some warm spices, a touch less sugar, and loaded with all the nuts and seeds I look for in granola. I love using a new to me “everyday” extra virgin olive oil, Filippo Berio’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil, because it infuses the mixture with a rich taste of notes of olive and makes a sweet granola a bit more balanced with a touch of savory. And while it’s well suited for things like salad dressings or sautéing veggies, I think it’s also perfect for granola! 

EVERYDAY GRANOLA

Adapted from Eleven Madison Park Granola on New York Times Cooking

INGREDIENTS

3 cups organic rolled oats
2/3 cup shelled raw pistachios
1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup chopped raw pecans
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup black sesame seeds
2/3 cup unsweetened coconut chips, lightly crushed
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup light maple syrup
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2/3 cup dried sour cherries

TOOLS

Saucepan
Mixing bowls
Rimmed baking sheet

FIX

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a small saucepan, whisk together the kosher salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar. Then whisk in the maple syrup and olive oil and heat over low, stirring frequently, until the sugar just dissolves. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla bean paste and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the rolled oats, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, black sesame seeds, and coconut chips and salt. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the brown sugar, maple syrup, and olive oil until the sugar is just dissolved. Mix the maple-olive oil mixture into the dry mixture and mix with a spatula until everything is evenly coated. Spread half of the mixture onto one of the lined parchment paper baking sheets, in an even layer and then repeat with the remaining half on the other sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring the granola every 10 minutes, pushing the outer granola bits in and the inner granola bits out. Remove from the oven and mix in the dried cherries. Let cool completely before transferring to jars with tight-fitting lids. The granola should keep for up to two weeks.

This post is sponsored by Filippo Berio! They are a new to me brand that has well priced options for a range of olive oils, vinegars, glazes, and pesto.