Apricot Granola

Most homemade granola recipes lean on butter or oil for crispness. This one skips both. A jar of apricot preserves plus a quarter cup of honey is all the sweetener and binder needed, and the natural pectin in the jam helps form those craggy clusters everyone fights over.

Five ingredients total, mixed by hand because spoons can’t get into all the oat crevices the way fingers can. The preserves coat each flake unevenly on purpose. The thicker patches caramelize into chewy nuggets while the thinner spots crisp into shards.

Stirring every five minutes during the 30-minute bake is the only thing standing between you and a scorched edge. Pull the pan and toss thoroughly. The oats nearest the pan walls brown fastest. Done granola looks slightly toasted, not dark. It firms up dramatically as it cools.

Pro Tips

• Press granola down on the sheet pan for the last 10 minutes if you want chunky clusters.
• Cool completely on the pan before breaking up. Warm granola is soft and won’t hold its crunch.
• Store airtight at room temperature for two weeks, or freeze for several months.
• Use real apricot preserves with chunks of fruit, not jelly. The fruit pieces become chewy gems.

Variations

• Stir in a handful of slivered almonds or pumpkin seeds in the last 10 minutes of baking.
• Swap apricot preserves for orange marmalade or fig jam.
• Add ½ teaspoon ground cardamom for a Middle Eastern twist.