Make Ahead

Hot Granola

February 11, 2010
5
2 Ratings
  • Makes 6-7 cups
Author Notes

When my sons were young, I'd often make a porridge we called "oatmeal cookies for breakfast." It was full of toasted walnuts and raisins with dabs of brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. One bitterly frigid Chicago day, I had no oatmeal on hand because I had used it all to make granola, so that's what I decided to make the oatmeal with. It's filling and nourishing, and it made me feel like a perfect mom when the boys went off to school with a bowlful of this in their bellies. —betteirene

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Ingredients
  • For the Granola
  • 2 cups oatmeal, preferably long-cooking rolled oats
  • 1/2 to 1 cups flaked coconut
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup honey, maple syrup or 1/2 cup brown sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 2 tablespoons corn or other vegetable oil, preferably not canola
  • 2 cups total of any combination of coarsely chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, shelled unsalted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds, wheat germ
  • 1 cup dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries, cherries, mango, pineapple or apricots (chop larger fruits into small dice)
  • To serve
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup prepared granola
Directions
  1. In a large bowl, stir together oatmeal, coconut and salt. In a small bowl, combine honey and corn oil until very well blended. Pour over the oatmeal mixture and mix well by hand.
  2. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Line a 15"x10" rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Spread the oatmeal-honey mixture evenly over the parchment and place pan in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
  3. Stir nuts into the mixture and bake for 5-10 more minutes, until the granola becomes a light golden brown.
  4. Allow granola to cool. Place dried fruit in a large bowl. Stir in granola. Store at room temperature in a tightly covered container.
  5. To make hot granola, for each serving, bring one cup of milk to a simmer. Stir in 1/2 cup of prepared granola and simmer until thickened, adjusting the amount of granola or milk to reach the desired consistency. Scoop into bowls and garnish with additional granola.
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2 Reviews

mrslarkin March 21, 2011
I love the simplicity of this granola recipe. I'm eating a bowl of it right now - made mine Cherry-Almond. So great! Looking forward to trying it hot! Thanks, betteirene.
AntoniaJames February 11, 2010
What a great idea!! And what a nice, straightforward granola recipe. Thanks for posting it. I sometimes top my oatmeal (which I eat almost every morning) with granola, to add some texture and some new flavors, but I've never thought to turn granola into a hot cereal like this. Love this!