HAZELNUT GRANOLA
Co-Owner Courtney Cunningham served as pastry chef for a year in 2014 and developed most of the breakfast goodies that became the staples in our pastry case. She created this recipe in an effort to add a vegan option to the Community Plate menu. It contains honey so its not “technically” vegan but you can experiment with brown rice syrup or agave nectar if you’re a purist. We, of course, are sold on the immune boosting properties of local honey so elected to sacrifice true vegan for local goodness. Our favorite was Blonde Girl Honey in Dayton, Oregon just a few miles east of McMinnville.
This recipe is also gluten free.
300 grams Toasted Hazelnuts (filberts)*
*You’ll need to toast the hazelnuts before assembling the granola. Roast the hazelnuts for 6-8 minutes at 350 degrees. Once cool, put them in a clean kitchen towel and use the towel to rub the skins off.
900 grams Gluten Free Rolled Oats
*Most oats are naturally gluten free but some are milled in a gluten rich environment so its best to look for certified gluten free if this is important for your diet.
270 grams Steel Cut Oats
225 grams Shredded Coconut (we use unsweetened)
150 grams Millet
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
2 1/4 tsp Salt
112 grams Gluten Free Oat Flour
450 grams Local Honey
300 grams Real Maple Syrup
180 grams Neutral Flavored Vegetable OIl
150 grams Orange Juice
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
250 grams Dried Cherries (or fruit of choice)
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
Mix wet ingredients thoroughly in a medium bowl.
Add wet ingredients to dry and stir well to coat evenly.
Coat two cookie sheets in non-stick baking spray or vegetable oil. Spread granola mixture evenly between the cookie sheets.
Bake at 275 for 30-40 min. Stir one pan very well half way through to break up big clumps. Leave the other pan as is and it will bake into large clumps that you can break up according to your preference.
The more brown it gets, the crunchier the finished granola will be. More blonde means a chewier granola.
Once cooled, stir the dried cherries into the pan of granola you stirred during baking. Layer the cherry granola mixture with the chunkier plain granola in an airtight container. Dark brown, dry granola keeps well for 2 weeks. Lighter, chewier granola should be eaten within a week’s time.