I feel exactly as David Lebovitz feels about his favorite granola recipe, which is: “I never planned to write about this granola, since Molly and Cenk [insert: David] did excellent adaptations. Because they are probably sick of me clicking on their sites, I finally jotted it down on a scrap of paper.”
If those ladies are tired of him clicking on their sites (David, for the record, I would be HONORED if you clicked on mine!), then he must be just fed up with how much I click on his. I make it routinely, and while I’m busy digging my way through my latest batch, I’m clicking back and thinking about when I can make it next and dreaming about different fruit purees, different seed and nut combinations, whether you can swap spent grain for some oats in the recipe. (You can; it’s delicious.)
That granola recipe really is THE BEST. And I love it because it swaps the traditional loads of of oil for fruit puree. Not to mention the insanely toasty and addicting flavor, but more on that later.
This past month, as I’ve consumed more than my fair share of one of my favorite summer meals (juicy summer fruit, yogurt and granola), I’ve watched my granola supply dwindle down to the last few tablespoons with alarm. All week, I’ve been mentally sighing to myself, thinking that the oven would no longer be avoidable. THEN I realized that stovetop granola is totally a thing!
Our rather small frying pans necessitated a small batch of granola—which is actually pretty perfect, since the original recipe makes soooooooo much granola that it tends to go a bit stale by the time I reach the end.
So I adapted David’s delicious granola for a small stovetop batch and it was delicious—just as irresistibly crisp-crunchy, chock-full of seedy goodness and perfumed with sweet cinnamon, maple and ginger as the oven version is. This small batch is the perfect amount to last me about a week, and with batches this small, it leaves tons of room for experimentation because you’ll want to make a million batches. Apricot puree instead of banana? Sliced almonds or chopped pecans instead of walnuts? Honey in place of maple syrup? Curry-spiced granola?!
Granola CAN be made in Houston, in the summertime, without the handicap of a scorching hot, energy-torching oven sucking all the cool air out of your apartment, friends! Rejoice.
Summer Stovetop Granola
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup walnuts chopped
- 1.5 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 2.5 tablespoons sunflower seeds
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons banana mashed VERY SMOOTH. no chunks allowed. (or any other fruit puree--I've also tried applesauce and pureed pears, with great results)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1.5-2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ½ tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Combine oats, nuts, seeds and spices in a medium bowl. In another bowl, mash the banana and add the brown sugar and maple syrup. Stir the wet into the dry ingredients and toss until well-combined.
- Heat a pan over medium heat and add coconut oil (let melt if still solid). Once the oil is melted and hot, add the granola mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 3-5 minutes. Lower the heat to low and let cook about 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally. If oats start to scorch, turn the heat down sooner.
- Once the mixture starts to brown and feel toasty, transfer to a baking sheet and let cool completely (cooler = crunchier). Once cool, store in a sealed container—will probably last a few weeks. If the granola still feels a little moist or soggy once cool, just toss it in the pan again over low heat and cook until it turns crunchy.
Chris
MMmm So Yummy , Finnaly made a Granola I like, In the middle of summer too in Perth West Australia!!!
erika
Glad to hear it!!
carol in nyc
Thanks for this Erika, it’s just what I needed because sometimes I don’t feel like making a lot of granola or firing up the oven. Perfect. Love the variations, too.
Lyssa
I don’t really have access to coconut oil but am dying to try this! Any suggestions?
erika
Hi Lyssa! I think olive oil (or any kind of oil) would be a fine substitute in this case. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Lianna
I loveee that this uses fruit puree in place of oil. Can you tell I’m a huge fan of healthified recipes? haha I’ve only ever baked granola so it will be interesting to try out this stove top version, yours looks perfect!
Kelly
I loove granola and yours looks fantastic! Big fan of David L. and can’t go wrong with one of his favorites 🙂 Love that you can make this on the stovetop. I have coconut oil that is begging to be used up so this is perfect! Thanks for sharing 🙂
erika
Thanks so much Kelly! I know, David L is so great! I would be so excited to meet him someday.
Yay for coconut oil–let me know how yours turns out! 🙂
Kelly
I made this the other day switching some add-ins and it turned out fabulous! I love it and can’t get enough! My 2 year old loves it too so I will definitely be making more hehe 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing Erika :):):)
Nancy @ gottagetbaked
Erika, I’m sure David Lebovitz doesn’t mind you clicking on his link on the daily (hmm…now that I’ve read that line over to myself, it sounds kinda pervy. Ah well, I’m leaving it as is – I’m sure no one else here is as dirty-minded as I am!). Stove top granola is brilliance to the nth degree! I just spent a week in Walnut Creek, which is about an hour outside of San Francisco, It was 100 degrees F every day – I imagine that’s the current temperature in hell right now. I don’t know what I’d do if I lived somewhere that hot, as you do. Thankfully you can make this without turning the oven on!
erika
Lol! You hilarious woman.
OMG NANCY I was JUST home for the 4th, in San Mateo, which is like 45 minutes from Walnut Creek (30 min from SF). WHY DID I NOT KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON IN YOUR LIFE??? We totally could have/should have met up! Omg I went to Bi-Rite last night after dinner in the city and we got salted caramel and malted vanilla with peanut brittle and milk chocolate and OMG amazing. Food coma to the nth degree!
Haha anywayyy…hope you had a lovely time and hope to read about your trip sometime soon!
vic@cakebook
wow – didn’t know you could even make granola on the stove! DOH! This looks so wholesome yet quick and easy – am already scared how addictive it might be!!
erika
Haha <3 I know. I've already made three batches and um....addiction might not be far off!
Nadja
lovely blog! I will have to try this recipe out. (:
erika
Thanks so much Nadja 🙂
Stephanie
Yum! I love granola! I’ve actually been thinking about trying to make a nut-less version as one of my daughters has a nut allergy and all of the store bought types I’ve found contains nuts. This recipe sounds pretty easy to make and customize!
erika
Oh yay! Yes, this is super easy to customize–hope you like it!
Jackie {Domestic Fits{
Beautiful. I haven’t made granola in while, but this i just pure inspiration.
erika
Thanks Jackie! Such a compliment, coming from your expert styling 🙂
yummychunklet
Golden and delicious!
Christina
Just found your blog through IG and I absolutely love your photo’s! Not to mention this recipe, I never thought of making granola on the stove. I’m totes giving this a try.
erika
Thank you so much Christina!!! You are fabulous. I hope you like it!
Erika Beth, the Messy Chef
Yay for Erikas with a K! Sorry to hear you’re in Houston. I’m from Austin (which as everyone knows is worlds better.) ;p
I actually eat raw foods M-F so we have the whole eating healthy thing in common as well. 🙂
erika
Haha. I would have to agree with that! You do have Gourdough’s, after all. Which–maybe you haven’t been to, since you sound like an extremely healthy eater! I’m so impressed–I could barely keep up raw for a few days!
Julia
Ohhhhh David…how I love DL! Anything that comes from his site is definitely fine by me. And STOVETOP granola?? How have I never thought of doing this?? AHHHH I love granola, I’m on this stat!
erika
Same here! WANT his life.
Tahnycooks
This looks fantastic! I love granola, and I love making it! Thanks for another great recipe to try!!
madscar
This is amazing! I love it:)
Sabrina
I love how this has barely any oil and is made over the stove. Bookmarked it! Thank you for this amazingness 🙂
erika
Yay! Thank YOU for stopping by, Sabrina! 🙂
ATasteOfMadness
I can`t believe I have never made granola before. This looks too good, I need to try this out sometime!
erika
Please! Granola is so easy…especially on the stove, wink wink. But seriously.
Green Door Hospitality
Erika,
This seriously looks so good!! My husband keeps reminding that we need to start making homemade granola. He (as well as me) would love this! 🙂
Kenley
erika
Aww yay! Thanks for stopping by Kenley 🙂
CCU
Your granola looks absolutely perfect my friend 😀
Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Cheers
CCU
Kaylie @ Skinny Muffin
Reading this was kind of like reading a really good novel. I started out thinking, “Hmm.. stovetop granola. That’s peculiar.” And I became more and more entranced, WAITING for the recipe, and when I finally got to read the How-To/Recipe it was the total climax of the “novel.” Complete brilliance. I need to make this soon.
erika
Oh Kaylie. Haha I love you! I highly enjoyed that analogy.
I hope you like it!!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Genius!! I’m totally making my next batch on the stove! And I need to try your granola. I have to eliminate the walnuts, but I’ll just add something to replace them. Can’t wait to try it!
erika
Yay! I don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier. I bet almonds or macadamia nuts (exotic! or wait–are you allergic to nuts?) or coconut would be great in this. Hope you like it!
Alex @ Brain, Body, Because
Okay, I have to be honest and say that I have never tried your recipes (because I am so, so lazy), but your writing and your photographs are AMAZING. Is it bananas that I get so excited for your recipe blog even though I haven’t made the recipes? I just love to read the writing and drool over the photos. Had to get that off my chest 😛
Anyway, I love the versatility of this! All of the different options sound amazing. I know I just said that I haven’t tried your recipes, but this sounds so good and easy! I don’t normally have bananas around, but maybe I could sub applesauce for it instead? I’ll report back!
erika
Hahaha no worries! I am always shocked when people actually DO make my recipes. (I always assume they don’t lol. Is that bad?) But omg you are so sweet, totally made my day! That reminds me–I LOVED your blog survey. I kind of want to do one and see what people want to see, writing-wise. Can I do a one-woman poll of you? Do you think I should do more talking about what the process of making each recipe is? More story-telling? Do you like when I start off with random hooks about life happenings? More life? Less life, more recipe talk? More about how it tastes? Do you feel like you know me from reading blog posts? Do you feel like you want to know less of me? 😉
Do you want me to stop asking questions? Sorry, I’m a nut. Just got on a roll! Feel free to answer none 🙂
Lastly, YES! Swap in any fruit puree you want! I’d love a report back from ya :)))
Brandi
Oh, I make granola weekly! I LOVE granola. I make 3 versions…Chocolate Cinnamon, PeanutButter, and a new one that I’m waiting to post on my new site, a spicy ginger coconut one! I’ve never heard of stovetop granola..sounds like a great idea! It looks so delicious!
erika
Wow, that’s impressive! I could barely bring myself to make granola every few months (the looong baking time, the mixing, the turning, etc.) before I realized how easy stovetop granola is. Those granola flavors sound excellent–can’t wait to see the new one! 🙂
Kayle (The Cooking Actress)
I loooove granola and this really does look extra delish!
erika
Thanks Kayle 🙂 I love that photo collage you posted of you and Michael on fb today! Too lazy to go back and find it but it was ADORABLE.