Wonderful Olive Oil and Maple Granola

I love a good granola recipe. I’ve posted several before, my favorites of which are the seven-year granola, the French granola with chocolate chips, the fantastic maple granola, and my Mom’s croque-nature. I’ve got another favorite to add to the list now, thanks (once again) to Molly Wizenberg. It combines two techniques I’ve tried before, i.e. using olive oil for a bit of a savory touch and using maple syrup as a sweetener. It’s also got pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, and my favorite nut, pecans. Plus coconut chips, and big grains of salt instead of table salt. Basically, it’s got everything, and you should make it for breakfast right now because it’s really wonderful.

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw hulled pumpkin seeds
1 cup raw hulled sunflower seeds
1 cup unsweetened coconut chips
1 ¼ cup raw pecans, whole or chopped
½ cup light brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt (I used sea salt)
¾ cup maple syrup, preferably Grade B
½ cup olive oil

Preheat the oven to 300 °F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or grease a large roasting pan.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut chips, pecans, light brown sugar, and salt. Stir to mix. Add the olive oil and maple syrup, and stir until well combined. Spread the mixture in an even layer on the prepared sheet pan. Bake, stirring every 15 minutes, until the granola is golden brown and toasted, about 45 minutes. Remove the granola from the oven, and season with more salt to taste (I didn’t). Cool completely, stirring every once in a while to prevent excessive clumping. If you'd like, stir in some dried cherries or apricots (again, I didn’t this time). Store in an airtight container.