Olive oil comes in 5-liter jugs; why doesn’t tahini? Once I poured some into my salty-to-sweet granola recipe, I never looked back, and you won’t, either. It coats every grain with nutty richness and helps keep the mixture from becoming overly sweet.
I use olive oil, which can lend a strong flavor depending on the variety you use; I love that assertiveness, but feel free to swap in coconut oil, vegetable oil or a mixture. And while I love silan (date syrup) here, it can burn resting directly against the sheet pan. So I cut it with maple syrup to make sure the whole tray turns the right shade of golden. In winter, I serve this granola over yogurt with tart pomegranate seeds and citrus; depending on the season, swap in the fresh fruit of your choice.
Notes:
- If you like your dried fruit softer, leave it out of the recipe and stir it in as you serve the granola. Or bake the dried fruit with the granola; it will caramelize and darken, and if you’re anything like me, you will like that.
- The granola can be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Reprinted from “Sababa” by arrangement with Avery, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2019, Adeena Sussman.
Tahini and Olive Oil Granola
The best breakfast around in any kind of weather.
- Total Time: 1 hour (includes cooling time)
- Yield: 5½ cups
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- ¾ cup chopped pecans, or other nuts of your choice
- ½ cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
- ¼ cup shelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- 2 Tbsp sunflower seeds
- 2 Tbsp sesame seeds
- ⅔ cup pure tahini paste
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup silan (date syrup)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ cup chopped dried cherries, cranberries, currants or barberries (see notes)
- yogurt, pomegranate seeds, orange segments, and/or pure tahini, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, pecans, coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. In a medium bowl, whisk together the tahini, olive oil, brown sugar, maple syrup, silan, vanilla and salt, then pour over the oat mixture and toss to coat.
- Spread the granola in a single, even layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring the outer edges toward the center every five minutes (this prevents burning), until golden brown, 20-25 minutes, or 5 minutes more for darker, crispier granola. Remove from the oven, let cool completely, break any clumps into smaller pieces, then stir in the dried fruit.
- Serve in bowls with yogurt, pomegranate seeds, orange segments and tahini.
Notes
- If you like your dried fruit softer, leave it out of the recipe and stir it in as you serve the granola. Or bake the dried fruit with the granola; it will caramelize and darken, and if you’re anything like me, you will like that.
- The granola can be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Vegetarian
There is way too much sugar in this recipe. I use 1/3 cup of honey with 8 cups of oats and plenty of seeds and nuts. I’ll try it reducing the sweetener significantly.