Olive Oil Granola with Chai Spice

Written by: Cooks of Heraclea

Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients: 9

Olive oil belongs in your granola. We toss oats, walnuts, pine nuts, and flaxseed with Diaspora Co.’s chai masala, then pour over our Mature Harvest EVOO whisked with date syrup and vanilla. Forty minutes in a low oven and the whole kitchen smells like cardamom. Let it cool on the pan — that’s when it crisps. Pile it on yogurt, or eat it by the handful straight off the sheet.

Ingredients:

4 cups rolled oats
2 cups walnuts
½ cup pine nuts
½ cup flaxseed
1½ tablespoons Diaspora Co. Chai Spice Blend
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup Heraclea Mature Harvest EVOO
⅓ cup date syrup (maple syrup or honey will also work here)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste)

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, toss together the oats, chopped walnuts, pine nuts, flaxseed, chai spice blend, and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk the extra virgin olive oil, date syrup, and vanilla extract until smooth. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir well, making sure everything is evenly coated.
Spread the mixture out in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 35–40 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until deeply golden and fragrant.
Let the granola cool completely on the pan — it will crisp up as it sets.