EMP Pistachio Coconut Granola

During our Labor Day trip to NYC, we were super excited to visit one of our favorite restaurants, Eleven Madison Park. After another unforgettable meal that remains to be blogged, we were given a jar of homemade granola. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed at first, having received two boxes of macarons and fruit jellies during our last trip as a parting gift. I wasn't expecting something so plain as granola. Until we both tasted a handful. OMG...it was the best granola ever! Just the right amount of sweetness, salt and crunch. It was definitely a lot saltier than any granola I've ever eaten but in a good salted caramel kind of way. We joked that this was probably the most expensive granola ever made - you can really taste the high quality of nuts and fruits used.

I searched the web for the recipe and apparently, we weren't the only ones blown away by the granola. I found numerous blogs and articles dedicated to the EMP granola and found the recipe on both Food Network and the New York Times. Essentially, all granola recipes have the same equation:

1) Fat - melted butter, canola oil (EMP uses extra virgin olive oil)
2) Sugar - brown sugar, white sugar, honey, agave (EMP uses brown sugar and maple syrup)
3) Nuts - almonds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, pistachios, pecans (The online EMP recipe uses pistachios and pumpkin seeds while the version we received from the restaurant used sliced blanched almonds and pumpkin seeds)
4) Dried fruits - basically any dried fruit will do (The online EMP recipe uses sour cherries and coconut flakes, the restaurant gave us coconut flakes and red and yellow currants and I used coconut flakes and cranberries in this homemade version)

While the taste isn't spot on (we saved some of the restaurant's granola for a taste test - theirs was sweeter than ours), the granola is still pretty fantastic, owing to the nuttiness from the EVOO, the caramel-like goodness of the brown sugar and maple syrup and the salt that balanced out the sweet flavors (yes, you are adding one whole tablespoon of salt). One change I would make next time would be to add the salt to the hot sugar mixture rather than tossing it into the oats. I didn't mixed the dry ingredients well enough and Ray ended up eating a big piece of salt-coated granola. Regardless, this recipe currently stands as our favorite granola recipe to date.

Pistachio and Coconut Granola
adapted from Daniel Humm, Eleven Madison Park via the NYT

Ingredients
2 3⁄4 cups rolled oats 
1 cup shelled pistachios 
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/3 cup pumpkinseeds 
1 tablespoon salt 
1⁄2 cup light brown sugar 
1/3 cup maple syrup 
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 
3⁄4 cup dried sour cherries

Directions
Preheat oven to 300. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, pistachios, coconut, pumpkinseeds and salt. In a small saucepan set over low heat, warm the sugar, syrup and olive oil until the sugar has just dissolved, then remove from heat. Fold liquids into the mixture of oats, making sure to coat the dry ingredients well. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, and spread granola over it. Bake until dry and lightly golden, 35 to 40 minutes, stirring granola a few times along the way. Remove granola from oven, and mix into it the dried fruit. Allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to a storage container.