I chanced upon this granola recipe from the New York Times; it is originally an Eleven Madison Park recipe. Apparently, after the end of a meal, all diners are gifted a jar of this signature granola to take home. The reviews on the NYT were stellar, and I was intrigued.
I will say that I’ve made a few granola recipes in my lifetime, and this one is the best of them all. It has the perfect balance of sweet and salty with the coarse salt and maple syrup. Coarse salt is so important here, because you get little bursts of savoriness between bites and it’s just delightful.
The bake is on point – no soggy clumps, just crisp toasted oats accompanied by buttery shreds of toasted coconut and nutty pecan pieces. I’ve since made two batches of this recipe, and had it on a near daily basis with Greek yogurt for a healthy snack. I did make some substitutions from the original NYT recipe to make it a little more healthful and more to my tastes, which I’ll share in the recipe below.
Coconut Cherry Pecan Granola
Adapted from NYT
Yields 5-6 cups of granola
Note: I generally prefer using weight measurements, which I’ve provided below.
2 ¾ cups (200g) rolled oats
1/2 cup (60g) chopped pecans
1/2 cup (50g) unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt (this is very important – it has to be coarse, not fine, or else it’ll be too salty)
1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar
1/4 cup (50g) maple syrup
1/4 cup (40g) extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup (120g) dried sour cherries, chopped
Preheat oven to 300. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, pecans, and salt.
In a small saucepan set over low heat, warm the sugar, syrup and olive oil until the sugar has just dissolved, then remove from heat. Fold liquids into the mixture of oats, making sure to coat the dry ingredients well.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, and spread granola over it. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring granola a few times along the way. Stir in coconut to granola and bake for another 5 minutes. You want to see the granola looking dry and lightly golden.
Remove granola from oven, and mix into it the dried sour cherries. Allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to a storage container.
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