Some advice; don’t ever buy granola. Ever. Just make your own. It’s easy to make and you can cater the flavor to how you want. Au revoir, crappy nuts. Peace out, bits of old, tired fruit. Once you start making your own granola, feel free to laugh at those that put it in their shopping basket.

This recipe for granola is adapted from David Lebovitz. Who adapted it from Nigella Lawson’s Feast cookbook. Following along? It started with a British food goddess, who inspired an American in Paris, which further inspired a Filipino-American food nerd in Seattle.

We love granola in our cupboard. It’s a great snack throughout the day and a perfect addition to breakfast. Added to yogurt with a dollop of honey or as a cereal, it’s a great way to kickstart the morning.

As I started making it more and more, I took the recipe that Lebovitz/Lawson started with and added my own tweaks to it. The key is knowing the ratio of the dry goods to the wet; As long as you have 10 cups of the dried goods, you’re good to go. Because we are a nut-free kitchen, I would omit the nuts and start adding other stuff to balance out the volume. Like pumpkin seeds or shredded coconut. I also bumped up the volume of wet ingredients to create more chunky clumps that are so welcome in granola. Finally, we’ve landed at a good medium and now have granola on demand.

Without further ado, here’s how to do it:

Granola (adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Feast)

5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (do not get minute oats; they don’t have the same texture)
2 cups pumpkin seeds
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup untoasted sesame seeds
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried ground ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup unsweetened applesauce (or another unsweetened fruit puree)
1/2 cup rice syrup
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 300F
2. In a large bowl, mix the oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt until well incorporated
3. In a small pan, warm the applesauce, rice syrup, honey, vanilla extract, and vegetable oil over low heat
4. Mix the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients until blended. No need to overstir
5. Divide mixture between two baking sheets
6. Bake granola for 65-70 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes, until granola is golden brown. Swap position of pans in oven to distribute even heat halfway through cooking
7. Remove from oven and cool completely. This time allows the granola to crisp up and dry out
8. Place granola into airtight storage containers. It will keep for up to one month. You will eat it much sooner than that.

*After you make the granola, feel free to add dried fruit. Cherries, raisins, craisins, M&M’s, cocoa nibs; anything would be appropriate. Have fun with it and add your own spin.