Apple Maple Granola with Figs

A while back my daughters were planning a backpacking trip in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Granola was on the menu for breakfast on the trail, so I offered to bake some for them. I was eager to try a recipe I'd seen on David Lebovitz's blog, filled with the flavors of autumn: apples, figs, maple and nuts.


n.o.e.'s notes:

- I've been making my own granola for over two years. Although I've tried other recipes, my usual recipe is here. Homemade is so easy that I've never looked back - or bought any granola again.

- This time I used a recipe from David Lebovitz, who adapted it from a recipe in Feast, by Nigella Lawson.

- All you need to make granola is a very large bowl, a baking sheet, oats or other flaked grains, nuts, seeds and dried fruit. I stuck very closely to Lebovitz's recipe, using oats, almonds, and raw sunflower seeds. I replaced his sesame seeds with raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

- The recipe calls for four kinds of sweeteners: I used applesauce, brown sugar, honey, and maple syrup (instead of rice syrup)

- My granola baked in a slow oven for nearly an hour. When it cooled, it was delightfully crunchy and aromatic, and just packed with seeds, nuts and fruit.

- I added chopped dried figs at the end.


the verdict:

This granola smelled amazing while it was baking. I love the way the flavors of the apple and maple combined. The girls really liked this granola, especially "the figs. They were key." My older daughter asked for the recipe, so you know it was a keeper!