Where did it start, this search for the great granola? A few years ago, for sure. Sometime before I stumbled across She Who Eats’ amazing blog, with its thorough analysis of flavours and ingredients. I used her matcha granola as a template for years, whenever I got tired of thinking about breakfast and wanted something quicker. I needed granola when I was making my own yogurt, as an excuse to continue the exercise. And then, just this year, in February, I had the idea for a granola bar. The idea . . . well, it was a good rough draft we shall say. But not something publishable. And anyway I found the best wheat cracker recipe shortly after and that fixed me as far as on-hand snacks went.

But still. Granola.

It ought to be so simple – crunchy clumps of goodness. Not too sweet, not too bland. And yet it stays out of reach, with recipes resulting in a kind of sugar coated crumble: great for sprinkling over things but not quite satisfying to eat. Too sweet, really, for breakfast every morning, or for an early evening snack. Not even Cooks’ Illustrated could break the mold of mediocrity. So when I decided to go off wheat this month, and therefore give up my beloved crackers, I knew something had to change. And so I changed it. The result: practically perfect. I mean, there are changes I have to make, and also changes  I want to make. But the basic essence of this is golden. If you have an afternoon, please try it out, make it your own, and tell me how it works for you.

Glorious Granola  – adapted from She Who Eats

• 3 cups of oats
• 1 cup of pumpkin seeds, the roasted and shelled kind
• 1 cup of sesame seeds and sunflower seeds (in whatever proportion you wish. My sister requested less sesame)
• 1 cup chopped dried fruit (I used mango and ginger. You’ll probably want to increase this to two cups)
• ~ 1/3 cup sugar (I used Jaggery (which comes in chunks – I blended it), so this number is something of a guess)
• 1/2 cup oil (you can probably reduce this to 1/3)
• Vanilla Extract
• 1~1 1/2 cup brown rice (hot from the pot, or else microwaved with a bit of the oil)

Put oven at 250 degrees and toast the oats for about 30 minutes

Mix together all the fruit and nuts and sugar (Obviously you can put whatever of these you want in – the above is just what I had on hand. I would probably put the sugar and any other flavorings right into the rice mixture next time). You can put some of the oil here, but this too I think could be put all in the rice mixture. When the oats are almost ready, blend the hot rice, oil, and vanilla (and possibly salt) until a smooth, thick liquid emerges. It takes a minutes or so. Pour this over the nuts et. al. Add the hot oats and mix it, mix it, mix it. You want everything to be perfectly combined. Press it into the bottom of a lipped pan. Go and wash the vessel you blended the rice in before it cools and becomes glue.

It takes about 50-65 minutes to bake. Halfway through pull out the pan and flip the granola over, breaking it up a bit into chunks, to ensure it dries out on both sides.

Let cool and enjoy!