Clumpy, Not-Too-Sweet Granola

Cherry-Ginger Granola for the Great American Granola Exchange, in which I've finally caught up to a miraculous, 2020-era throwback

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I don’t know if a “granola exchange” has ever happened before, but when I saw

Julia Sherman

announce the The Great American Granola Exchange a few weeks ago, it struck me as a thrilling bolt of genius and I was immediately in. Who doesn’t love granola? And wouldn’t it be an absolute treat to receive a homemade batch in the mail?

Julia organized the granola exchange as a way to infuse the country with some care packages, and in part to send a little love to a few of the many people affected by the LA fires. I’ll add that as nice as care packages feel to get, I think they’re just as satisfying to send. Julia’s exchange is closed for now, but perhaps the concept will inspire you to drop a pouch of granola in the mail.

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I’ve made lots of granola over the years, and during the sourdough mania of 2020, when we were mixing sourdough discard into so many things besides bread, I was skeptical of adding it to my granola. At that time, it was hard to envision . . . the taste, the texture, the point? But in the past few weeks I’ve been back to regularly nursing my sourdough starter and I was compelled to give it a try, starting with King Arthur Baking’s recipe.

Wow, I was so wrong in my judgment. This sourdough discard granola is ingenious! Not necessarily because of the sourdough component — using fairly fresh discard, I found that there was little sour flavor to speak of. No, rather what I loved was the giant, effortlessly formed, crunchy clumps, which require using no extra sugar (typically the binding agent that makes clumps possible). It’s granola perfection: clumpy, and not-too-sweet.

Yes, you do need to have sourdough starter, and if you don’t but are craving granola, there are many other recipes to choose from. Julia’s newsletter is a good place to start:

A Few Highly Personal Tips for Exceptional Granola

While turning out batches of granola, it’s come to my attention that I have a few strong opinions. Here they are.

• Dried cherries are the best fruit. They’re bigger, brighter, fruiter, chewier, and just so much more exciting than ever-predictable raisins. Granted, I don’t like raisins at all. But cherries kind of look the part, and are a million times better. In addition, you can have fun with fruit when making granola, reaching for dried mandarin oranges, pineapple and other tropical fruits, chopped dates, crystallized ginger, or any of the freeze-dried fruit options you can find. I add dried fruit towards the end of baking, so that it doesn’t dry out too much but does have a chance to cling to other flavors. Freeze dried fruit should go in once the granola is completely cool.

• Ghee is the best fat. Any fat works, of course, including butter, avocado oil, and canola oil, and good olive oil can be excellent. But ghee imparts richness and depth that the other fats just don’t and it’s always my #1 pick.

• Fennel seeds are magic. I don’t always include them, particularly if I’m sharing my granola, because anise is such a divisive flavor. But to me, fennels seeds are the surprise no one sees coming, adding brilliant complexity that goes in sweet or savory directions. One teaspoon is plenty.

• Don’t forget salt. Salt makes granola (and so many other foods) moreish. I use a modest amount of salt in the granola as I’m mixing it up, so that I can add textured, flaky salt right out of the oven.

• That said, granola is so forgiving. Just raid the pantry when you make it. On top of subbing in your favorite nuts and seeds (best to measure similarly sized nuts and seeds by volume rather than weight, if you’re using an existing recipe as a guide), it’s easy to turn the dials on sweetener and fat. And instead of rolled oats, use another rolled grain — photographed in this post I’ve used spelt flakes — or a puffed whole-grain cereal. Or make grain-free granola by going heavy on just the nuts and seeds (don’t forget sesame seeds and hemp hearts). Taste and tweak as you go, and keep an eye during baking, stirring as needed to prevent overcooked patches, and lowering the oven temp if it colors too quickly.

Do you have any highly personal tips for exceptional granola?

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Cherry-Ginger Sourdough Granola

• The older your sourdough discard, the more prominent its flavor will be. I personally like this best with starter that’s only a day or two old, which lends little sourdough flavor. If it’s older than three or four days, the flavor will be pronounced.

• It’s best to measure your sourdough starter with a scale, since the volume measurement will vary depending on its level of ripeness. If, for example, you’re using ripe sourdough starter (meaning, it’s been feed and allowed to ferment, and aerated at maximum volume), the measurement here will be closer to 1 cup.

• If you want to make your granola bit more luxurious, use the upper amount of honey and double the ghee. That said, because of the sourdough starter and its excellent clump-forming properties, you can scale back significantly on the sugar as you please.

Yield About 6 cups | Prep time 10 minutes | Bake time 30 minutes

½ cup (100g) ripe sourdough starter or not-too old discard
2 to 4 tablespoons (42g to 85g) honey or maple syrup
3 tablespoons (42g) melted ghee or butter
2 tablespoons (25g) coconut sugar or brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups (180g) old-fashioned rolled oats or other rolled grain
2 cups whole, raw nuts (cashews, walnuts, pistachios, pecans, almonds)
½ cup pumpkin seeds and/or hulled sunflower seeds
½ cup (45g) shredded coconut
2 tablespoons (25g) chia seeds and/or flax seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds (optional)
½ cup (60g) dried cherries
¼ cup (60g) chopped crystallized ginger
Flaky salt, for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a mixing bowl, stir together the sourdough starter, honey, ghee, sugar, spices, and salt until smooth. Fold in the oats, nuts, seeds, coconut, chia, and fennel seeds, if using.

3. Spread the mixture out on the prepared baking sheet in an even layer. Transfer to the oven and bake until browned and dry to the touch, 35 to 45 minutes, stirring once or twice. About 5 minutes before the baking is finished, stir in the cherries and ginger. Out of the oven, sprinkle with a few pinches of flaky salt.

4. Cool completely on the pan, then break it up into pleasingly sized clumps and immediately transfer to an airtight container, in which it will keep for a few weeks at room temperature.

Recipe: Cherry-Ginger Sourdough Granola

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