MarilynMeetsWes Granola Recipe

Since so many people have been asking for the recipe for the granola that we baked for our wedding, here it is!  It was inspired by the Eleven Madison Park recipe, but we tweaked it to favor our preferences and added a greater variety of our favorite nuts and berries.  We wanted the granola to be fun to eat and full of surprises.

Wes made the white oak tree slice btw!

We baked a batch or two per night for the month leading up to the wedding day for a total of 24 batches.  But before that, we baked and taste-tested, handed it out to coworkers and family, got feedback, and baked again.  We even burned a batch somehow.  Then, we made a huge batch and filled a 1-foot tall mason jar with it, just for our catering director and coordinator because they were such fans of the testers.  It was so fun to have this as our wedding favor - I'll always remember the look on the coordinators' faces when they got the gigantic jars, the fact that some guests finished it before dinner service began, and that my sister ate all of hers before she could share any with her boyfriend.  I'll also remember how Wes's mom saved an intact jar of it for a month just to look at it (she probably still has it on her TV stand).

MarilynMeetsWes Granola

Yields:  6 cups
Total time: ~50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups rolled oats
• 1/3 cup shelled pistachios (raw)
• 1/3 cup pecans (chopped)
• 1/3 cup almonds (slivered and blanched)
• 1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (not shredded coconut)
• 1/2 tablespoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup maple syrup (we used Grade A)
• 3/8 cup dried tart cherries
• 3/8 cup golden raisins

Procedures:

1. Preheat oven to 300F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together oats, pistachios, pecans, almonds, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes, and salt.
3. In a small sauce pan combine brown sugar, olive oil, and maple syrup.  Bring heat to medium and whisk occasionally until sugar has dissolved.  Pour over oat mixture.
4. Spread oats along prepared baking sheet.  Bake until lightly golden, about 40 minutes.  Remove from oven and mix in the dried cherries and golden raisins.

Serving suggestion:  As soon as it is done, spoon hot granola onto a scoop of Madagascar vanilla ice cream.  It's heaven in a bowl and great for your wedding diet.

We made the labels at home.  Marilyn free-handed the leafy sprig!

And now for some pictures from the wedding day, by Judy and Gavin Photography:

Extra, extra!

- Marilyn