I’ve been baking my own granola for years now, usually inspired by the odds and ends I find when cleaning my pantry. It’s incredibly satisfying to empty the remnants of bags of nuts, a tub of dried mystery fruit, a jar of cinnamon, and a rubber-band wrapped package of quinoa in one fell swoop! In the process, I create a wide open pantry shelf AND breakfast of champions for weeks!

Armed with some photos I took during the recent production of 60 jars for a dear friend’s wedding, I’m finally putting this granola “recipe” on the Teaching Table blog.

As the air quotes suggest, this is barely a recipe but rather a set of suggestions and instructions for assembling goodness out of any combination of nuts & dried fruit, spice, seeds, oil & sweetener. Mix and match to create a personalized granola that suits your taste and needs (or uses what you find in the back of your pantry). You can even adjust the ratios of the dry ingredients. The amounts are relative — another vote for this solution to reduce food waste! Here’s a basic formula.

Tip: For an even crunchier granola, add 1 beaten egg white to the oats mixture.

Pantry Clean-Out granola

What you need:

Ingredients for Shannon & Dylan’s Signature (vaguely Morrocan) Granola.

2 ½ - 3 cups rolled (not instant nor steel cut) oats
½ - 1 cup whole grains such as quinoa, millet and amaranth
2 - 4 tablespoons seeds, such as sesame, chia and flax
1 - 2 teaspoons of ground spice, such as ginger, cinnamon, or cardamom, or powders like cocoa and matcha tea
½ - 1½ cups nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews and pistachios
½ cup oil (melted coconut, canola, hazelnut, pistachio, grapeseed, or olive oil)
⅓ cup sweetener in syrup form, such as honey, agave or maple syrup
½ cup dried fruit, such as raisins, tart cherries, apricots, figs, peaches or apples, ¼ inch dice

What you do:

Preheat Oven to 310 degrees

325 degrees, if using a heavy non-stick or coated roasting pan. Roughly chop nuts and dried fruits.

Mix dry ingredients

In a large bowl, stir together the oats, grains, seeds, spices, and nuts.

Melt Coconut Oil

If using coconut oil or another fat that is solid at room temperature, melt by immersing in a pot of hot water. Stir until liquid.

Add the oil

In a measuring cup, measure the oil first. Swirl to coat cup and then pour into the dry ingredients.

Measure the sweetener

Measure the sweetener in the same measuring cup. It will slide right out.

Add the sweetener

Add the sweetener and stir to combine.

Bake until light golden brown (right)

Spread in a single layer (left) in a roasting pan with high sides. (Baking sheets like these will work, but be cautious when stirring the mixture as it tends to spill over the sides..)

Bake for about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should reach a light golden brown color (right). It will crisp and dry as it cools. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes.

Add dried fruit

Add dried fruit to the oats, seeds and nuts mixture. Stir to combine.

Store in Jars

Cool completely before transferring to a glass jar with tightly fitting lid. It will keep for up to 1 month in a dry cool place.

Some of my favorite combinations:

All of these start with rolled oats…

walnuts + cinnamon + canola oil + maple syrup + dried apples
pistachios + almonds + cardamom + sesame seeds + coconut oil + honey + dried apricots
almonds + cocoa powder + nut oil (hazelnut, walnut) + agave + dried cherries
cashews + ginger + quinoa + coconut oil + agave + coconut flakes + dried mango
matcha tea powder + cashews + coconut oil + agave + golden raisins
walnuts + pistachios + cinnamon + quinoa + grapeseed oil + honey + raisins

Pantry Clean-Out Granola