Besides the chocolate chip cookie, one of the first not-from-a-mix desserts I learned to bake was an apple crisp. It’s a well loved classic for a reason–who can resist warmly spiced, just-soft apples underneath a shower of crunchy, buttery topping? If you’re like me, you have probably enjoyed a scoopful of leftover apple crisp for breakfast in you life. It’s really the only thing to do when confronted with leftover crisps or crumbles of any sort (same goes for pie). The thing is, we don’t always have leftover crisps laying around (the horror) and we should maybe not have what is essentially pie for breakfast all that often (damnit). Enter this granola. It has all the flavors of apple crisp, but in a granola! All good granolas include some sort of fat–I’ve used olive and coconut oils in the past, but butter seemed only right in this version. This granola is sweetened with apple cider that’s reduced with a little honey to essentially make an apple-cider syrup. It makes the granola not too sweet and adds another layer of apple flavor–making it perfect for sprinkling liberally over your yogurt with a little less guilt than if you sprinkled actual apple crisp over your breakfast (not that I’d judge you).
- 2 cups apple cider
- ¼ cup honey
- ½ cup butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup crushed apple chips
- Pour the apple cider into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat so the cider is simmering and reduce for about 30 minutes, or until you have about ½ cup of reduced apple cider. Remove from the heat. Stir in the honey and butter, stirring until the butter has melted. Stir in the vanilla.
- While the apple cider reduces, line a baking sheet with parchment and preheat the oven to 325°F.
- In a lage mixing bowl combine the oats, pecans, quinoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the reduced apple cider mixture to coat the oats. Spread the granola mixture in an even layer over the lined baking sheet and bake for about 45-50 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes until the oats are toasted, golden, and no longer moist. Remove from the oven, stir in the apple chips, and cool on a rack. The granola will crisp up as it cools. Store in an airtight container.
nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps
I love a good crisp when the weather turns a little bit cooler, there’s really nothing like it. I love love love that you took the flavors and turned them into a granola…
cindy
Thanks, Nicole! I need to make an actual crisp now 🙂
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
This looks so delicious! I really love that quinoa in there!
cindy
Thanks Katrina! It makes it super crunchy!
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme)
YES! Love this granola, and can’t wait to make it soon. The quinoa is such a great addition for protein too 🙂
cindy
YES! Thanks, Laura!
Lisa @ Healthy Nibbles & Bits
Yes! Bring on the granola!! Like you, I usually make granola with oils, but I should totally try butter next time. I ran out of granola yesterday morning, and all was sad until I saw this recipe. Definitely trying it soon!
cindy
Whew, I’m glad I could help 😀 Also, butter in granola is kind of a game changer (though I still love coconut oil granola, a lot)!
Sarah // The Sugar Hit
This is basically my dream granola. Also – do you think you could use this as an ingredient in a crisp for a double-apple-crisp apple crips?! I’m so there.
cindy
YES! I totally endorse the apple crisp within apple crisp, aka, Inception Apple Crisp.
Amy | Club Narwhal
Can I please just inhale this whole batch? I’ve been on a big granola kick lately and love all the fall flavors here. Plus, apple crisp in any form = best idea.
Trish
Oooooh totally want to make this! I am a granola addict! I think the apple chips are missing from the recipe. Do you add those?
cindy
Yes! Thanks for catching that, I’m fixing it now!
Stefanie - sarcastic cooking
Lovely! Simply lovely! I’m buying apple chips today to make this for me and the little guy this weekend! I have a feeling this recipe is kinda like edible potpourri!!!
cindy
Haha, kind of! I hope you enjoy@
sophie|A Kitchen In Uganda
My stomach in literary rumbling right now! On my to-make list now!