Every cherry I eat is an echo of the first ones I ever had—dotted with water droplets, purchased from a roadside stand in Oregon while we drove through a thick soup of fog and forest. I had a pretty well-rounded childhood, so I’m not sure how I made it to drinking age without ever tasting a real cherry, but the wait made the payoff impressive. The taste of those cherries stained my mind forever. I respect this about food. Though it vanishes, it doesn’t leave you.
It’s impossible to predetermine which meals will make an impression, but the time and place and maker have a lot to do with it. Of course, this means the holidays do the heavy lifting in taste-making, stacking food memory after food memory on top of each other, like presents. Latkes. Christmas sugar cookies. Your grandma’s cheese straws. A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to add my own tradition to the tower, so I began making big batches of winter granola to package up and give away—an update to the bow-topped cookie tin. I built the granola around dried cherries—ever chasing those Oregon gems—and balanced their dense sweetness with plenty of salt, warming spices, and savory olive oil.
When my loved ones eat it with scoops of thick yogurt or swim in whatever alternative milk we’re all into lately, maybe it sinks into their memory forever or maybe it’s just a nice bowl of cereal. The mystery is half the fun of cooking.
Wintery Granola Mixed with Cherries Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup raw pecan halves
- ½ cup quinoa
- ½ cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 1 ½ tsp. kosher salt
- ½ tsp. ground cardamom
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- ¾ cup dried cherries
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 egg white
- ½ cup dark chocolate chunks (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a half sheet baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, quinoa, pecans, sunflower seeds, almonds, salt, cardamom, and cinnamon. Add the olive oil, maple syrup, egg white, and vanilla and stir until all ingredients are well-coated.
- Spread wet granola out onto the prepared baking sheet, pressing it down, and bake. For the best crunch and most granola clusters, do not stir at all until baking is complete. Otherwise, stir gently every 15 minutes for even color. After 30 minutes, remove sheet pan from the oven and sprinkle the coconut flakes over the granola. Return pan to oven and continue baking for another 10–15 minutes, or until granola is toasty and golden brown on top.
- Let granola cool in the pan without disturbing it, as it will continue to firm up. When completely cool, break into clusters and stir in dried cherries and chocolate chunks, if using. Store in an airtight container, or package into jars for gifts. Granola should stay fresh for about 7–10 days, or longer if stored in the refrigerator.
Stocking Stuffer
This granola recipe easily scales up for big-batch gifting during the holidays. Santa’s workshop never smelled so good.
Photography by Jivan Davé
