Make Ahead

BLACK SESAME GRANOLA

January 17, 2014
5
1 Ratings
  • Makes About 6 cups
Author Notes

Inspired by The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, this is the chunkiest granola with the slightest hint of maple and salt, studded with black sesame, sweet dry cherries, pecans, and toasted coconut. Best stored in the freezer for extra crunch. —AT BURNING DEGREES

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Ingredients
  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 1.75 cups chopped raw nuts and seeds (pepitas, sunflower seeds, pecans, almonds)
  • 0.25 cups black sesame seeds
  • 0.25 cups flax seeds
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • 0.5 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 0.5 cups grade B maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
  • 1 egg white
  • 0.5 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 0.5 cups dried sweet cherries
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread the coconut in one layer on a large short-rimmed baking sheet and toast for about five minutes, or until fragrant and lightly golden. Set aside and dust off the baking sheet.
  2. While the coconut is toasting and cooling, add the oats, nuts, and seeds to a large bowl. Add a generous pinch of salt and the cinnamon and stir to combine well.
  3. Mix the olive oil and maple syrup in a smaller separate bowl, then pour over the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly until everything is evenly coated.
  4. In the small bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy, then add and stir well.
  5. Spread the granola evenly on the baking sheet and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. However tempting, don’t stir during cooking. Rotate halfway through to get even doneness, if needed.
  6. After the top is golden and dry to the touch, pull from the oven and allow to cool. After completely cool, break into hunks and scatter in the cherries and coconut. Store in airtight jars.

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My tiny hometown newspaper once printed a column by my six-year-old self offering a peanut butter cookie recipe in which you put the oven "at burning degrees." Things have gotten better since then. (I think.)

2 Reviews

Lucky8duck January 16, 2020
I have been searching for a recipe like this...hands down, the best granola ever! Not too sweet, full of crunch, a touch of salt. Great alone, over yogurt, with berries and almond milk. Delish!
porkybun February 28, 2016
making it now :)