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The Shocking Technique for the Best 5-Minute Granola



Why It Works

  • A mixture of maple syrup and melted butter binds the oat combination collectively and provides sweetness and richness.
  • A mix of nuts and dried fruit offers a compelling mixture of flavors, colours, and textures.
  • Stirring sometimes whereas cooking ensures even toasting of the oats and nuts.

I’m a fan of freshly baked granola, however taking the time to combine and bake it from scratch at dwelling? Not a lot. Most conventional recipes for a jumbo batch of baked granola require greater than an hour to make, and no less than 20 minutes of scrubbing bowls, measuring cups, counter tops, and a cookie sheet. Whereas this typically ends in scrumptious granola, it’s time-consuming, labor-intensive, and I’m left with an enormous batch that’s prone to flip stale earlier than I even end it. I may flip to the store-bought stuff, however it’s typically overpriced and underwhelming.

Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


My answer is that this simple, crispy microwave granola, which takes simply 5 minutes to make and comes collectively in a single bowl. Even on the busiest of mornings, once I’m scrambling to prepare for work, I can whip up a small batch with out worrying about preheating the oven and making a bunch of dishes. It’s nice for jazzing up a bowl of yogurt or munching by the handful scooped straight from the bag on a hike. 

This granola is evenly sweetened with maple syrup, effectively seasoned, and hearty: The crunchy clusters of oats are studded with a kaleidoscope of dried fruit, crunchy nuts, and/or toasty seeds. Vanilla offers a candy, floral be aware, whereas an elective pinch of cinnamon provides the granola a spiced heat. Right here’s the way to make your individual.

Tips on how to Make Excellent Granola in 5 Minutes

Skip the oven. Getting ready granola in a microwave could seem uncommon, however the equipment is a strong little field that’s particularly useful once you’re quick on time (or, let’s be trustworthy, motivation) or wish to make a small batch of granola. 

As Critical Eats contributor Summer time Rylander wrote in her article on how microwaves work, the home equipment function by firing electromagnetic radiation at your meals. These waves successfully goal the meals’s inner water molecules, agitating them at a fee that produces sufficient friction to generate warmth and evaporate water.

The issue is that the waves can’t penetrate a lot deeper than about an inch into meals, and subsequently battle to prepare dinner giant items of meals evenly. However the microwave is definitely ultimate for zapping smaller items of meals like oats: Oats are skinny sufficient {that a} microwave’s warmth penetrates all over every bit in a short while. 

Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


So, whereas a microwave will not be the popular software for cooking, say, a centerpiece-worthy steak or a complete apple pie, it’s a great tool for toasting small batches of granola.

Stir steadily. As tempting as it’s, don’t stroll away. There’s a cause most oven-baked granola recipes name for baking at a low temperature for an extended time period—typically as much as an hour—and stirring once in a while. The light warmth toasts the oat and nut combination evenly, stopping it from scorching. 

Within the microwave, nonetheless, meals cooks by way of at a a lot quicker fee, which may enhance the chance of your granola toasting erratically or burning. To keep away from this, it’s essential to stir the granola each 30 seconds or so throughout its very quick cooking time, which can guarantee even warmth distribution for uniform crisping.

Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


Press the granola into an excellent layer earlier than cooling. Top-of-the-line perks of creating granola at house is which you could customise the scale of the granola clusters to your liking. To make your granola simpler to interrupt up into your most well-liked measurement—whether or not that’s free crumbles for sprinkling or giant clusters for snacking—it is essential to stir within the dried fruit of your selection when the granola is piping sizzling out of the microwave and nonetheless pliable. (Raisins, dried cherries, and chopped dried apricots are all nice choices.) Then, utilizing the again of a big spoon or spatula, gently press the new pliable granola into an excellent, tightly packed layer. As soon as it’s absolutely cooled, the maple syrup’s sugars agency up, sticking the oats, nuts, and dried fruit collectively right into a granola “bark” which you could break into crunchy clusters of any measurement.

The Shocking Technique for the Best 5-Minute Granola



Prepare dinner Mode
(Preserve display awake)

  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) maple syrup or honey

  • 1 tablespoon (14g) melted unsalted butter or impartial oil such a vegetable or canola oil

  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1/8 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for desk salt, use a pinch

  • Pinch cinnamon, elective

  • 1/3 cup rolled oats (about 1 1/4 ounces; 38g)

  • 2 tablespoons chopped uncooked nuts or seeds, akin to almonds, walnuts, or sunflower or pumpkin seeds

  • 2 tablespoons raisins (about 3/4 ounce; 20g), or dried cranberries or dried blueberries, or chopped dried cherries or apricots

  1. In a small bowl, use a fork or small whisk to mix maple syrup, melted butter or oil, vanilla extract, salt, and cinnamon, if utilizing. Add oats and nuts and toss to evenly coat. Switch to a microwave-safe small plate and, utilizing a spatula or again of a soup spoon, gently press combination right into a flat, even layer. Microwave on excessive energy, stirring each 30 seconds, till oats are golden and aromatic, 2 to three minutes.

    Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


  2. Working rapidly, in a medium bowl, stir dried fruit into the new granola. (The granola ought to nonetheless be sizzling and pliable.) Switch again to plate, then gently press into an excellent skinny layer, and let cool fully, about 5 minutes. Break cooled granola into items of desired measurement. Serve.

    Critical Eats / Amanda Suarez


Particular Gear

Microwave-safe plate, spatula or soup spoon

Make-Forward and Storage

Leftover granola could be saved at room temperature in an hermetic container for as much as 2 weeks.

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