I found this recipe for chocolate granola on Luisa Weiss’ The Wednesday Chef, and I’ve been waiting for the perfect day to make it. It was one of those Parisian-like rainy early-spring days yesterday, and when I heard it was going to rain all weekend, I made it last night.
Luisa adapted the recipe from Molly Wizenberg at the Orangette. Molly discovered it on a trip to Paris, which is why she calls it French granola. The granola Molly ate originally was from a box, from a supermarket, so you can bet this recipe makes a far better granola. You really have to go over and read Molly’s post about her time in Paris. It’s dreamy.
Every granola recipe I’ve seen instructs you to bake it on a rimmed sheet pan. I find it very hard to stir the granola without spilling it all over my stovetop that way. One day I thought of making it in a roasting pan. It’s so much tidier. Before that, the roasting pan got pulled out once a year, twice if it was lucky.
I make granola for the restaurant, so I’m pretty tired of the cinnamon-nut-dried fruit variety. This recipe doesn’t taste punishingly healthy at all. It does make a virtuous substitute for pain au chocolat, which is almost always what I want on a rainy Saturday. So check the Weather Channel and make this and some very strong coffee the next gloomy weekend and you’ll swear you can hear Edith Piaf.
(Molly mentions that the flavor of the chocolate is lost if you put the granola over yogurt, and I can confirm that. It’s much better with milk or soy milk, and it’s awesome with almond milk.)
French Chocolate Granola (adapted from Luisa Weiss, from Molly Wizenberg)
Makes approximately 10 cups
6 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw almonds, chopped (I use about 3/4 cup – I like it less nutty)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
12 tablespoons mild honey
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I like the Let’s Do Organic brand; it’s grated into bigger pieces, not that microscopic confetti coconut)
1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate (I tried Scharffen Berger and Lindt. Both were entirely edible, but if you do happen to have Scharffen Berger on hand …)
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
In a large roasting pan, combine the oats, almonds, sugar and salt. Stir well to blend.
In a small saucepan, warm the honey and oil over low heat, stirring gently, until the honey is thin. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir to combine well.
Spread the mixture evenly. Bake for about 30 minutes total, or until golden. Set a timer to go off after 10 minutes, so that you can give the granola a good stir; this helps it to cook evenly. Bake for two more 10-minute periods; stir in between. At about the 27-minute mark, sprinkle the coconut over the top of the granola but don’t stir to incorporate. Let the coconut toast for 3 or 4 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven, stir well – this will keep it from cooling into a hard, solid sheet – and cool completely.
When cool, add the chocolate and stir. Transfer the granola to an air-tight storage container or zipper bag.
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Dan 03.01.09 at 1:13 pm
My roasting pan will be available all April.
eliz 03.01.09 at 4:43 pm
@Dan – We’ll see how much fits in Tink’s luggage. What we can’t bring, we’ll make.
Liz A. 03.02.09 at 12:37 pm
Have to say, I’m not trying that one. My mom was on R&D for Kudo’s growing up and I ate more granola than one ever should have in a lifetime. I can still tolerate it in oatmeal though.
Liz A.’s last blog post..Not too bad overall.
eliz 03.02.09 at 1:27 pm
@Liz A. – I can completely understand. I worked at a General Mills plant one summer in college, and to this day the smell of Cheerios makes me slightly queasy.
abdpbt 03.04.09 at 2:39 pm
oy god that sounds good.
abdpbt’s last blog post..A DAY IN THE PARK