BAKED GRANOLA

I don't have much of a sweet tooth, I have said on many occasions I have more of a savory tooth.  I do like a great granola though to sprinkle atop my Greek yogurt in the morning. Something about the nature of granola makes it feel less like a treat and more like a 'it's good for you' food.  The problem I found in the past with homemade granola has been that I was never able to achieve clusters, what's a great granola without crunchy clusters?  It might as well be muesli. Not to knock muesli, but if you wanted to make muesli you wouldn't be on an obsessive hunt for crunchy, clustery granola recipes now would you?

I am happy to report that the buzz amongst the internet food cognoscenti about cluster rich granola being achieved via a recipe from the Baked cookbook is no fallacy. The granola came out crunchy, golden and with the perfect balance of sweet + salty.  I daresay that it is the best granola I have ever had the pleasure hit my taste buds  As you can judge from the photographs the granola does not last long in ones household, so be prepared to bake a batch a week or don't make this recipe at all (as the family will go through major withdrawals). Here's the recipe for those that are insistent on getting hooked and the rest of the Baked book looks like a winner as well. I'll have you know that the oil I used was grapeseed, it was what I had on hand (it's great at high temps), I don't know if it made a difference (I'd like to believe it did).  I also substituted dried cranberries for the cherries because I am no dried cherry fan.

P.S. The 'handmade' stamp featured above is part of the Besotted Brand line up, it'll be perfect when you bake so many batches of granola that you won't know what to do with yourself except put them in vintage glass canning jars and dole them out as gifts, you gourmet you.