American food trends tend to catch on quite a bit later here. For example, Turkey is a country of tea drinkers, but we are currently in the middle of a gourmet roasted coffee boom. In the past couple of years, we have had the smoothie/juice trend trying to take off. Cupcakes came and went, and we’re on the cusp of the farm-to-table/seasonal revolution in my neighborhood. I’m thrilled to see this latest one finally come around. One can only take so many kebabs.

A few years back, I noticed that there was no granola in cafes or stores. I decided to come up with some recipes and Kucuk Mutfak (Tiny Kitchen) Granola was born.

I am not a baker: or, I can bake but I don’t really enjoy it. I have the patience for baking and the discipline to follow a recipe but I don’t like sweets. When you don’t really want to eat what you are producing it kind of loses its appeal. Hence, I figured out fairly quickly that my destiny was not to build a granola empire. As predicted, the granola scene took off and now you see it everywhere. Though, I’m still not convinced that Turks truly know what to make of it. I can’t tell you the number of times that I would be trying to explain granola to people that they would reply ‘Ahhhh, like cornflakes.’ Yeah. Just like cornflakes. I’m not sure the granola trend will hang on for much longer, but it will be interesting to see what may come in its place. Fingers crossed for bagels.

Kucuk Mutfak Cranberry Almond Granola, Not Cornflakes.

Ingredients

4 Cups Rolled Oats

1 Cup Chopped Raw Almonds

½ Cup Buckwheat Groats

½ Cup Raw Sunflower Seeds

½ Cup Wheat Germ

¼ Cup Flax Seed

1 Cup Chopped Dried Cranberries (to be added at the end)

½ Cup Honey

1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil

¼ Cup Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

A Few Pinches of Salt

Method

Preheat oven to 350 F 175 C

Add the first 6 ingredients to a baking sheet, toast for 15 minutes. Be sure to stir several times to avoid burning. Turn the oven down to 300 F 150 C

Next in a large heavy bottomed pot add the last 6 ingredients. Be sure the pot is large enough to hold all ingredients. Slowly heat the honey mixture until all the ingredients are blended. Next add all the toasted ingredients. At this time you may also add the cranberries. Stir the granola mixture with a heavy wooden spoon. You want to guarantee all the oats get covered with the honey blend. Once everything is coated, dump the granola onto a buttered baking sheet or one with a silpat. Bake for 20 minutes, but be sure to stir at the halfway point. As the granola is cooling be sure to stir it a few times so it doesn’t clump.

You can also bake this in a buttered 9X9 baking dish for granola bars. Cut them when they are still warm enough to cut, if you wait until they are totally cold they will be too brittle.