It’s been more than six months since I’ve had a taste of cranola. I quit baking it cold turkey after realizing I put on a few pounds from eating too much of the sweet snack. But it was my friend’s birthday the other day, so I whipped up a batch to bring to her party.
And, in true Two of a Kind fashion, I decided to come up with a new flavor rather than rely on a tried-and-true recipe. Why? Because I found a pair of passion fruit in a mystery basket from my local Whole Foods and was stumped on what to do with them. While I waited for the foreign ingredient to wrinkle and ripen, a few ideas crossed my mind … and then it dawned on me to make cranola!
Of course I had to conduct some QA before packaging and presenting it. No surprise, the tropical treat was a success. The seeds literally pop in your mouth as you munch on the cookie granola clusters.
- ¼ cup coconut oil, room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 passion fruits
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups rolled oats
- ⅓ cup shredded sweetened coconut
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat the coconut oil and sugar on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
- Cut each passion fruit in half. Scoop out the pulp and seeds and add to bowl; stir to combine.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt and mix until just combined. Then add the oats and stir with a wooden spoon. When the ingredients start to come together, use your hands to continue mixing until all the oats are covered with dough.
- Squeeze off chunks of dough and loosely break them apart over the baking sheet, creating large clumps.
- Bake the cranola for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and stir gently. Bake for another 15 minutes, remove from the oven, sprinkle on coconut and stir gently. Bake for an additional 5 minutes until clumps are dry and coconut is toasted.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cranola cool completely. It will harden as it cools.
- Store cranola in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, if it lasts that long.
