Author Notes: This recipe will change what you crave in your granola—airier, crispier, more warmly spiced. Sqirl’s first trick is in ditching the oats completely for a lighter texture—their version is made from wee balls of puffed millet, but any puffed grain would work (both Arrowhead Mills and Nature’s Path brands make a lot of different ones). The second, even more enlightening move is in adding baking soda, which, when combined with a slightly acidic mix of wet ingredients heated to around 250° F, unleashes millions of tiny air bubbles and turns the mixture from a burbling deep brown to creamy and frothy. “The baking soda is there to help with texture and soften the whole,” Sqirl pastry chef Sasha Piligian told me. “So you aren’t biting into hard candy.” Adapted slightly from Sqirl and Lottie & Doof. To read the whole story, head here. —Genius Recipes
Makes: about 3 quarts granola clusters
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients
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4 1/2
cups (84g) puffed millet (or other puffed grains)
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1/2
cup (60g) roughly chopped pecans
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1/3
cup (40g) sliced almonds
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1 3/4
teaspoons ground turmeric
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1/2
teaspoon ground cardamom
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3/4
teaspoon kosher salt
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1/4
cup plus 2 tablespoons (75g) lightly packed light brown sugar
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2
tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (32g) unsalted butter
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1/3
cup (111g) glucose (or honey, brown rice syrup, or corn syrup)
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1
teaspoon molasses
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1/2
teaspoon teaspoon baking soda
Directions
- Heat the oven to 325° F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
- In a large heatproof bowl, combine the millet, pecans, almonds, turmeric, cardamom, and salt. In a small pot, stirring occasionally, heat the light brown sugar, butter, glucose, and molasses, until they reach 250°F (it will have been simmering in slow, steady large bubbles for a minute or two). Remove from the heat, whisk in the baking soda, and immediately pour over the dry ingredients. Stir well with a sturdy spoon or spatula (the mixture will be stiff), making sure to mix in all the spices that have fallen to the bottom of the bowl, and then spread the mixture on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through. Allow to cool completely before breaking up and storing at room temperature.