Savoury Dukkah Granola

It’s a snack. It’s a garnish. It’s granola!

Granola isn’t just for breakfast, you know! In fact, granola doesn’t even have to be sweet.  I remember the first time I made a savoury granola, about five years back.  I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I knew it wouldn’t be sweet.  I liked the idea of a savoury version But what would I do with it?  Beyond sprinkle it on soup?

It didn’t take long to realize that it can be sprinkled on a plethora of dishes.  Soups, salads, mashed potatoes or cauliflower, as part of a gratin or baked mac ‘n cheese, scrambled eggs, avocado toast, roasted veggies, the list is as long as your imagination is wild.  I love it on labneh or cream cheese on toasted sourdough.

And if all else fails, it makes the best snack!!  It’s savoury, so it will satisfy that little salty craving you may have one evening while watching tv.  It can be tossed into a container with nuts and pretzels etc, and makes for a great savoury trail mix.  Add some dried fruit, and you will have an amazing sweet savoury treat.  

When I came across this version in the latest issue of Edible Toronto, I knew I just had to try it.  I love making dukkah, that fabulous Egyptian blend of ground nuts and spices used in their dishes, and just all around epic condiment.  Here’s my classic Dukkah recipe, and ways to use it.  It is a perfectly balanced condiment and blend that you can use to flavour fish, meat, roasting veggies and chicken etc.  When I was first introduced to it, is was served this way: dukkah blend in one bowl, olive oil in another bowl.  Bread cubes get dunked into the oil, and then pressed into the Dukkah blend.  Oh my, the party that happens when you pop that piece of bread into your mouth!  So when I saw that these same spices had inspired a savoury granola, I knew it would be awesome.  There is a slight temporary hint of sweetness from the honey and cinnamon, but it quickly transitions back to a savoury flavour.  And the crunch is perfect.

This is how easy it is to make granola:  Mix all your dry ingredients.  Mix the wet ingredients and warm them through.  There is usually an oil and a sweetener of some sort that will turn into a syrup that will coat the dry ingredients.  They all get mixed together and patted onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  This in turn gets put into the oven till the nuts are perfectly toasted and golden brown.

The challenge is to let it cool completely before transferring the granola to a storage container.  By letting it cool completely, and being gentle, you will be able to create the lovely clusters that make granola so much fun to eat with your hands.  Yes, there will be loose bits as well, but aim to create the clusters.  They’re just more fun!

So for this recipe you will be combining oats, puffed rice or quinoa, pistachios, hazelnuts, poppyseeds (or coriander seeds, or both!) fennel seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds and some spices.  The wet ingredients consist of olive oil, honey, lemon zest (or dried peel) cinnamon, ginger and smoked paprika.

It takes only a matter of minutes to pull this recipe together.  And it is in the oven for only 35-40 minutes.  And the next thing you know you have a couple of cups of granola to keep your meals company for a couple of weeks.  The original recipe makes four cups.  It is just Jim and I, so I cut this recipe in half.  Two cups would be great.  Depending on how serious your snacking needs are, and how many are in your home, go for the four cups worth.  I am showing the entire recipe, as per the original in Edible Toronto.

Happy Eating and Snacking!

Love Jen

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Savoury Dukkah Granola

The spices and aroma's of Egyptian dukkah are combined with nuts and seeds to create a fantastic and exotic savoury granola.  Perfect as a garnish on salads, soups, avocado toast, on roast veggies and even on scrambled eggs.  Or just for snacking!!

Course Condiment

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Cooling time 1 hour

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 4 cups

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 1 cup oats
• 1/2 cup puffed rice I used puffed quinoa
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup hazelnuts roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp white sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds if you don't have any that's fine, I subbed poppy seeds
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp Aleppo pepper can be substituted with red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper

Wet Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp water
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground dried lemon peel I used zest, since it was easier than picking some up!
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 300F
2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. In a small saucepan, combine all the wet ingredients and cook over very low heat, stirring lightly.
4. After about 1 minute, once they have formed a smooth syrup remove from the heat.
5. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix them to combine them well. If you find that the mixture isn't fully covered in the syrup, add a bit more olive oil (up to 1 tbsp) to help coat everything properly.
6. Spread them out onto a parchment lined baking sheet, and pat them down with lightly oil hands, to create a single tight layer. Make sure there are no gaps.
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the nuts and oats are evenly toasted and golden brown.
8. Remove to cool on a rack. Let the granola cool completely before gently breaking apart into clusters that will form naturally.
9. Store in an airtight container for about two weeks.

Recipe Notes

This recipe is easily halved if needed.

Recipe from the March/April 2019 issue of Edible Toronto