A year ago, I was analyzing our grocery list -- with our regular staples like whole grains, beans, produce, organic milk -- and realized the only processed food for which we still depended on the grocery store was granola. I'd once attempted to make granola at home, but the consistency came out totally wrong, and I was discouraged from the process. However, when it was finally the only obstacle that stood between us and a processed-food-free lifestyle, my desire was reawakened.
I started by trying recipes from my favorite food celebrities -- Mark Bittman, Alton Brown -- but discovered that my taste buds are totally different from theirs. Those recipes are really sweet! The granola tasted more like dessert than a healthy topping!
So I tried the same recipes with reduced sweetener. While the result tasted reasonable, the granola didn't clump. (Yes, I am finicky about the texture of my granola. I wanted clumpy granola. It's much more pleasing that way. And clumpy granola can be used instead of cereal in a bowl of milk.)
I analyzed the nutrition facts and ingredient labels from some of our favorite store-bought brands (how beloved art thou oh Whole Foods) -- Bear Naked, Nature's Path, Love Crunch, and some others I'm probably forgetting. And it turned out they all include some type of flour among the first few ingredients -- oat flour, soy flour, etc. This seemed logical, as flour is a good binder in all kinds of foods. So I added a couple tablespoons of whole wheat flour to my working recipe and baked as usual.
The first result tasted TERRIBLE -- very strongly of raw flour. I realized water was probably also an ingredient in these store-bought granolas! Water doesn't need to be listed on ingredient labels, and hadn't been included in any recipe I'd seen written down before, so I hadn't thought of it along with the flour. Following the addition of water, the recipe headed uphill again.
Around this point, I eliminated the nuts, dried fruit, and seasonings. Most of our granola is consumed in a bowl of yogurt and it's just as easy to add these other ingredients at the time of serving -- and then, composition can be customized to everyone's individual tastes (eg no nuts for the toddler, no raisins for the husband). With oats alone, it was easier to zero in on the "clumpiness" issue.
I made batches with different ratios of water, flour, honey, and oil, and discovered that the same recipe could produce vastly different tastes depending on oven temperature and pan size -- something I hadn't originally thought to consider. I'm so accustomed to doubling batch size without thinking about much aside from elongating cooking time! My final recipe is customized for a specific pan size, and if you choose to use a larger pan or double the amount, be aware that you might be affecting the flavor, too. Higher temperatures produce similar results in less time, but also make it easier to unwittingly burn the batch.
JUST-THE-CLUSTERS NOT-TOO-SWEET GRANOLA
4 cups old-fashioned oats
2 Tbsp oil
6 Tbsp honey
6 Tbsp water
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 275 F. Mix together the oil, honey, water, flour, and salt in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until warm, but not boiling -- about 30 seconds. Pour over oats in a 9x13 glass pan and mix well until evenly coated. Bake at 275 for 2 hours, stirring about every half-hour.
I'm not done yet... if left in the oven, these oats go from not-quite-toasted to burnt with little warning, but I'd like them to get a little toastier. Next experiment on the list is soaking the oats overnight before mixing with other ingredients. (Baking will presumably take much longer with that extra liquid.) I'll keep you posted!
