I bought some roasted hazelnuts a week ago to make a magic custard cake for Easter but ended up baking a lovely naked lemon cake instead. I’m fickle like that. So I dreamed up a new cookie granola flavor starring my unused filberts.
I say it every time, but this may be my new favorite cranola recipe yet. It tastes a bit like the middle of a Ferrero Rocher but without the chocolate, if that makes any sense. Of course, you could toss in some chocolate chips after the cookie granola bakes and cools to more closely mimic the flavor profile of the famed Italian confection.
Hazelnut Cookie Granola
Makes about 4 cups
Ingredients
- ½ cup roasted hazelnuts
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup coconut oil, room temperature
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup white whole-wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2½ cups rolled oats
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts and sugar until coarsely ground.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat the coconut oil and hazelnut/sugar mixture on high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix until just combined. Then add the oats and stir with a wooden spoon. When the ingredients start to come together, use your hands to continue mixing until all the oats are covered with dough.
- Squeeze off chunks of dough and loosely break them apart over the baking sheet, creating large clumps.
- Bake the cranola for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and stir gently. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, remove from the oven and stir gently. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until clumps are dry.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cranola cool completely. It will harden as it cools.
- Store cranola in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, if it lasts that long.
