Eleven Madison Park's Granola

I'm not a big granola eater, but I decided to finally make my own. It really is so easy that it's one of those things that I should make more often. I had a hankering for some kind of granola with cherries, and my search immediately turned up Eleven Madison Park's granola. Perfect!!

I used The New York Times adapted recipe, but the same recipe is also available on Food Network. There are some slight differences between the two recipes: Food Network specifies unsalted ingredients and uses two sheet pans to bake the granola. I've had the fortune of dining at Eleven Madison Park for a special occasion and received a jar of their granola. The granola was pretty good and I remember there were tiny bits of an ingredient (chocolate?) that isn't in the adapted recipes.

There seems to be quite a difference of opinion on the amount of kosher salt in this recipe (it's even noted in the NY Times recipe). Since it was my first time making granola and trying this recipe, I wanted to stick as close to the recipe's measurements. The only reason I made adjustments is because I only had 2 cups of rolled oats so I was 3/4 c. short. So, I reduced the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, and olive oil by roughly a third of what the recipe calls for since I had less oats. I kept the amounts of the rest of the ingredients the same. If I've totally lost you, I don't blame you. Bottom line: Make sure you have enough ingredients to cover all the measurements so you don't have to do weird math like I did. 

I got pistachios in their shells mainly because it's less expensive. To yield 1 cup of shelled pistachios, I went through two-thirds of a 16 oz. bag. Next time, I'll probably splurge on the shelled pistachios to save time. I also chose raw pistachios and pumpkin seeds (a.k.a. pepitas) that are unroasted/untoasted since they are going into the oven and will toast when baked.

Dry ingredient mixture

The Salt Debate: I think it's important to use unsalted ingredients in this recipe to balance out the amount of salt. Also, make sure to use kosher salt. (I used the Diamond Crystal brand.) Once my granola was done, I could definitely taste a good amount of salt but I did not find it too salty or inedible. It was a salty sweet combo of flavor. I personally think the salt is balanced with the brown sugar, maple syrup, and sour cherries. And, I'll have the granola on yogurt or with milk, which will also help balance the salt.

But if you don't want to risk it and cut back the salt, it will still be good. You can always add salt to suit your taste after baking and mixing in the cherries. If you follow the recipe and think it's too salty, you can make a separate batch without salt and mix the two batches together to save it. Why not try to save it instead of wasting food?

I thought the amount of light brown sugar, maple syrup, and olive oil was just fine to balance the salt and coat the dry mixture nicely. I will probably try coconut oil in the future to enhance the coconut chips.

Coated and ready to go in the oven

I baked the granola all on one half sheet pan. After 30 min., it was ready to come out. I left it in for a total of 35 min. just to get more color as a personal preference.

The final product came out nice and crunchy, but not sticky. I will definitely make this recipe again and try different nuts, dried fruit, and spices for variety.

4.15.2017 UPDATE: I made another batch using the full measurements in the recipe (2 3/4 cup rolled oats, 1 Tablespoon kosher salt) with pecans instead of pistachios and coconut instead of olive oil. I still did not find it too salty, especially when I have it with milk or yogurt.

My Rating (out of 5): 5