I’ve got serious granola goals for you today. Totally overbaked salted caramel granola goals. BUT it still tastes good. Easy all-in-one salted caramel, roasted almonds, hazelnuts, and seeds. Oh yeah, and chocolate chips, as always.
You can’t have a good breakfast without chocolate. I will live and die by that motto. Well, probably die.
[Oh yeah, somehow this is my 100th recipe here on What Charlotte Baked. No biggy].
If you’ve been around here before, then chances are you’ve seen a granola recipe. Jane has her cheesecakes, Sally has her cookies, and I have my super easy to make granola recipes. It’s what I do best. We’ve had Cherry Bakewell. We’ve had super sugary Lucky Charms. And who can forget this Ultimate Chocolate Indulgence. But there’s been something missing. And that something (as usual) was caramel.
I’m working on a really easy all-in-one caramel sauce tutorial/recipe, because homemade caramel sauce is a notoriously tricky beast to get spot on. And today I’m going to give you a sneak peek. The caramel sauce you’re going to make here is as simple as throwing all the ingredients into a saucepan, stirring a bit, and then waiting. As the sauce is going to get baked onto the granola in the oven, there’s less pressure to try and get it to the absolute perfect consistency. So you can stop your caramel-induced panicking. Once it looks ready (and seriously, just go with your gut) then it’s probably ready. No thermometer needed! I’m not even going to give you a temperature. It’s ready.
This granola is going to take a little longer to bake than usual, due to the super stickiness at play. But don’t leave it in the oven for an hour, please. Set a timer! I don’t know about you, but I’m incredibly bad at remembering when something’s in the oven. If I don’t set an alarm as soon as I put it in to bake, then it’s going to get burnt. No question.
Your salted caramel granola is ready when it’s still a little bit sticky. If you wait until it’s completely dry, then you’ve waited too long. Watch the nuts – if they look roasted and toasted then you’re done.
I added some pumpkin seeds to the mix, because seeds are good and nutritious (and help me make peace with the fact that that I’m eating a bowl of caramel and chocolate for breakfast again), but you can add in whatever makes you happy. More nuts? Maybe some pecans? More chocolate?
I’ve got some more great granola recipes coming up over the next few months – I’m already excited about autumn baking! Cinnamon is going to come back with a bang. No pumpkin spice in sight either. And we need something to look forward to, what with the rainiest August EVER on the cards. Come on sunshine! Britain needs you!
- 200g (1 cup) light brown sugar
- 100g (½ cup less 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 240ml (1 cup) double or heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 340g (3¾ cups) jumbo rolled oats
- 125g (1½ cups) whole unroasted almonds, chopped in half
- 75g (½ cup) whole unroasted hazelnuts, chopped in half
- 50g (1/3 cup) pumpkin seeds
- 50g (1/3 cup) sunflower seeds
- 90g (½ cup) dark or bittersweet chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F (130°C fan) and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper or baking parchment.
- To make the caramel sauce, put all the caramel ingredients into a medium saucepan on a low heat. Stir occasionally, until the butter and sugar have melted. Once melted, turn up the heat to medium, and bring to a gentle boil. Boil for 3 minutes, and then remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly in the saucepan. Make sure to stir the mixture gently whist bubbling to avoid it sticking to the pan.
- Place the oats, nuts, and seeds into a large bowl, and mix. Pour on the slightly cooled caramel sauce, and stir well until all the oats are coated evenly. Spoon the mixture onto the pre-lined baking trays, and spread out so that there is an even layer of granola on each tray.
- Bake the granola for 40-45 minutes, giving it a stir every 15 minutes to ensure it bakes evenly. The granola will still be a little sticky when ready, but this will fade once the granola cools. Leave to cool in the baking trays until completely cold. Stir in the chocolate chips, and then store in an airtight container or jar.
- The granola should keep for a month or so, if kept in an airtight container somewhere cool and dry. There is no need to refrigerate, unless you live somewhere really warm and humid. The granola can also be frozen for 3-6 months, and will need to be left out overnight to defrost before eating.
Someday I suppose I will have to try to make this just so I can taste the non burnt version of it 😛