Pistachios and Cherries Granola

There are so many dizzying varieties and choices of granola in the market. With such a reality, why would anyone want to make homemade granola?

Well, my family is particularly partial to this granola recipe. We have tried so many different granolas from the grocery stores. Although we like some of them, we keep returning to this tried and true recipe. Every time I make this homemade granola, we question why we even bother trying with anything else.

The ingredients for pistachios and cherries granola

We are going to use the following ingredients for our granola:

• rolled/old-fashioned oats
• shelled pistachios
• unsweetened coconut chips or coconut flakes
• pumpkin seeds
• Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• light brown sugar
• maple syrup
• extra virgin olive oil
• dried sour cherries

This recipe makes about 6 cups of granola, or 12 servings @ 1/2 cup per serving. If you serve the granola with yogurt, you will only need 1/4 cup of granola per serving.

Can I substitute some of the ingredients for the granola?

Don’t worry if you can’t find everything on the list above. I have also experimented with some great substitutions like these:

• Instead of pistachios, use whole cashew nuts, roughly chopped walnuts, whole pecans, or sliced almonds.

• Instead of unsweetened coconut chips/flakes, use unsweetened shredded coconut.

• Instead of pumpkin seeds, use sunflower seeds.

• Instead of Diamond Crystal kosher salt, use Morton kosher salt, or even table salt.
  TIPS: 1 tbsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt = 1/2 tbsp Morton kosher salt = 1 tsp table salt.

• Instead of light brown sugar, use coconut/palm sugar.
  TIPS: If you prefer your granola less sweet, half or omit the sugar.

• Instead of extra virgin olive oil, use coconut oil.

• Instead of dried sour cherries, use dried cranberries, raisins, or dried strawberries.

How to make the granola

1. Preheat the oven to 300 Fahrenheit (150 Celsius). Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Stir oats, pistachios, coconut chips, pumpkin seeds, and salt in a mixing bowl.
3. In a saucepan, stir brown sugar, maple syrup, and olive oil over low heat until the sugar has just dissolved. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
4. Slowly pour the hot liquid into the oats mixture. Fold with a spatula, making sure to coat the dry ingredients evenly.
5. Spread the granola on the parchment-lined half-sheet pan to an even layer.
6. Bake the granola for 35-40 minutes until dry and lightly golden brown. Stir a few times along the way. (I usually stir at 15 minutes and 30 minutes.)
7. Remove the granola from the oven, mix in dried sour cherries, and set aside to cool to room temperature before storing.

Storing the granola

Please wait until the granola has come to room temperature before storing it.

I find that this homemade granola can easily stay fresh for three weeks in an airtight container.

Storing granola in multiple airtight containers keeps the unopened ones fresh for longer.

You can store the granola without adding the dried cherries (or other dried fruits of your choosing) to keep the granola as crispy as possible. Add dried fruits only when you want to serve the granola.