Granola

Method

1. mix4 min
   wet over dry, every flake coated
   oats + almonds + coconut + cinnamon + salt, then maple + oil + brown sugar + vanilla poured over and tossed until nothing looks dry — an uncoated oat toasts pale and stale-tasting while its coated neighbors brown; the coating is the recipe
2. bake22 min
   300°F, pressed flat, one stir at halftime
   spread on a sheet and pressed down hard with the spatula — low and slow is the whole method: sugar burns long before oats toast at higher heat, and the pressing is what bakes the layer into breakable clusters instead of loose sand
3. bake12 min
   300°F, until golden at the edges
   after one gentle turn of the pan's outer edges inward — the edges always lead; granola is done when it is golden and still soft, because the crisp arrives during cooling, not in the oven, and granola baked until crunchy is granola burnt
4. rest12 min
   on the pan, untouched
   completely undisturbed — the cooling sugar is the glue, and stirring now crumbles every cluster the pressing built; raisins and any dried fruit join after, since baked raisins turn to pellets