La Brea Bakery Knock Off

The La Bakery in Los Angeles was started in 1989 by Nancy Silverton.  She started baking bread primarily for her then husband and partner, Mark Peel,

 who owned the restaurant next door called Campanile

Campanile is now closed but La Brea Bakery continues to live on 

and the bread and other yummy bakery goods 

can now be found nation wide.

I love the bread but I really really love the granola and so does my family.

The granola sells for around $7 dollars for a small package and it lasts in our house about 2 days.

So I decided to try my hand at making granola and getting as close as I could to the La Brea Bakery recipe.

I will take you through the steps and you can jot down the ingredients if you are a granola lover too.

It is a really easy recipe!

start with two really large bowls...

one for the dry oatmeal stuff and the other for the dried fruit 

which is added in at the end

mix together:

7 cups uncooked rolled oats

7 oz unsweetened flaked coconut

1 cup stabilized wheat germ (you can leave this out if you want)

add:

1 cup whole almonds 

( you can chop if you like but La Brea uses whole almonds)

1 cup sunflower seeds

mix the dry mixture well and set aside

 now we add a few things to bind the granola together and sweeten it up

in a measuring cup mix together:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup honey

1 Tsp salt 

1 Tbl vanilla extract

I add about 1 tsp of salt too 

but you don't have to

I put the liquid in the microwave for 1 minute to warm up the ingredients 

and make it easier to combine with the oats

 slowly pour the syrup over your oats, a little at a time,

 mixing thoroughly to coat until well combined

I like to add a little cinnamon too 

about 1 to 2 tsp 

during this mixing process

Heat the oven to 250 degrees and prepare your baking sheets for toasting the granola

my preference is to use 4 small 1/2 sheet pans lined with parchment

It is easier to turn while baking in the smaller pans 

and I think they brown more evenly...

but use what you have

bake for 90 minutes 

turning the mixture about every 20 minutes 

to brown evenly

my oven runs hot so I try not to over bake this 

which you can easily do if you venture too far from the kitchen

low and slow baking is better for even toasting

now here is where you can get creative

you need about 5 cups of dried fruit to finish off the granola

here are my favorites:

1 cup raisins

( la brea uses golden but I like the dark raisins)

1 cup cranberries

1 cup chopped dates

I doubt the original has dates but they are great in this recipe

1 cup chopped plums

I buy these little pre chopped plums which are great

and finally 1 cup of any other dried fruit of your choice

I have tried 

cherries, apricots and mango

and they are all really good

or you can double up on something else, just get to a total of  5 cups of dried fruit

by the way...while this is baking away your entire house will smell like a freshly baked oatmeal cookie

just an added bonus!!!!

your granola should look 

golden toasty brown

Now you add the dried fruit to the baked oats

 I mix mine in a really huge salad bowl with my handy salad tongs...hey what ever works right?!

You need a really large bowl because you end up with around 

18 cups or 4 1/2 pounds of granola!

When it has cooled 

I transfer some to a big jar and set it out near our coffee station 

this is great for snacking too!

this makes a ton of granola

so the rest I package up and pop in the freezer

my granola breakfast is usually:

nonfat plain yogurt 

some strawberries, raspberries or blueberries 

and a big scoop of granola

mine never looks quite this pretty but tastes delisch

via

yum!

give it a try this weekend and see what you think!

happy cooking

~kelley~