Eleven Madison Park Granola Recipe (2024)

I have made this many times and still find it to be the best granola ever! For those who think the amount of salt is too much, just be sure you are using kosher salt. A tablespoon of it is equal to about a teaspoon of regular table salt. I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. I have also made it with different nuts and fruits but find that my family and friends prefer it just as written.

I make this recipe often, and love it. I adapted it to make it less sweet (and caloric), and to me it is just as good. In place of pistachios, I used toasted pecans, as I prefer them. I use half the salt, use 1/4 cup light brown sugar, and then less than 1/3 cup of both maple syrup and olive oil (amount approximate - I mostly leave it about 1/2 inch below the top of the 1/3 cup measure). I personally leave out the dried fruit, as I prefer the nut and coconut taste to shine through. Yum!

I gotta say, no wonder it's delicious - it has a lot of sugar in relation to the quantity of oats. I've been using a recipe for granola from America's Test Kitchen that uses 5 cups of oats, 2 cups of nuts, and only 2/3 cup sugar, half of which is maple syrup. It's delicious, too.

Sticky dried cherries. I had a lot of trouble chopping the dried cherries into small bits because they are so sticky. I solved the problem by freezing the cherries and then chopping them up in a food processor.

Let's clear this up once and for all. Diamond Crystal Kosher salt is less dense than Morton Kosher salt. So Diamond Crystal is less salty per unit than Morton. So to be on the safe side always use Diamond Crystal. I think most pros do already.
I found this out the hard way when I almost ruined a recipe when I couldn't get Diamond Crystal and bought Morton's instead. I threw the box of Morton's right out. Too dangerous to have in the kitchen!

I make this all the time. I was not a fan of purchased granolas- even the fancy stuff they sell these days. I mix the olive oil, syrup, sugar and salt (a fraction of what is called for) in a heavy glass measuring cup and pop it in the microwave rather than using saucepan on the stove.

I make a granola recipe very close to this one but use coconut oil instead of olive oil and add pecans, sun flower seeds, chia seeds and ground flax seeds to the mix. Yum!

I also added 1 cup medium shred coconut, which was all I had on hand. It didn't burn. Although you couldn't see the medium shredded flakes, it was definitely a subtle additional flavor. When I made the batch a second time and forgot to add coconut, it wasn't as good. The coconut is definitely needed to balance the flavors.

I've ditched every other granola recipe now that I've discovered this one. The base recipe accommodates all sorts of variations. I usually use sliced or slivered almonds rather than pistachio nuts because I have them on hand. I leave out the coconut and cherries. And I cut the sugar and salt a bit. I've added cinnamon and a bit of orange juice to great success. It's a fun recipe to play around with and has become one of the more requested items for care packages for my kids.

I love having nutritional info available. It would be a huge help if the portion size was noted as well. For example, it's challenging to figure out the volume of 1/14th of this recipe.

Using sugar/syrup/olive oil gave this granola perfect crunch; my usual recipe uses veg oil and honey and it turns out a lot softer, which my husband doesn't like! I added ground cardamom, which i like with the pistachio/cherry combo.

My favorite granola--first tasted as a gift after dinner at 11 Madison Park years ago. Have used dried apricots instead of cherries and almonds instead of pistachios but best as written. Very easy to make and it freezes well.

A delicious base recipe to play around with. I don't see this granola lasting long in our house! Like most folks, I used 1/4 (!) of the sugar and syrup, and it was still plenty sweet. I also used 1 tsp of kosher salt, and will use even less next time. For the final tweak - I used shredded coconut, slivered almonds, organic raisins, and dried cranberries. So easy and fabulous - a true keeper.

One granola recipe to rule them all

This is granola is excellent. I usually make a double batch and give some of it away. It’s been a big hit in our family when we make granola yogurt parfaits with vanilla yogurt, bananas and fresh strawberries. I have started substituting half portion of the dried cherries with dried mangoes. I have made nut substitutions as well, hazelnuts are good or a mix of hazelnuts and pistachios.

This is SO good. Count me in the "salt is good here" camp - I probably use about 2 t, not the full tablespoon. So easy to make and delicious. (I use coconut oil instead of olive.)

This was good, but too salty. I think half a tbsp would be plenty.

I love this granola recipe, because I can easily adjust it to suit my taste. When I first made it following the recipe, it was too salty. I reduced the salt to one teaspoon (as suggested by others) and added the salt instead to the wet ingredients. I also adopted the recommendations for lowering the sugar content. Perfection, especially with a sprinkling of cardamom.

Made Granola for the first time and used this recipe. It came out perfect! I soaked my dried cherries in 2 teaspoons of almond extract and then folded them into the cooling Granola. After reading the notes, I reduced the brown sugar to 1/3 cup, the maple syrup to 1/4 cup and the salt to 3/4 teaspoon using Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. Baked it at just under 35 minutes which was just right. This recipe is easy and the results are impressive.

Agree about the salt. I like some saltiness mixed with sweet but this is too much. Will definitely make again but use half of the salt.

I worked there , made this hundreds of times. Here's my advice. Let it sit 30 minutes before baking to let the oats absorbe the liquid. Bake at 225 and make sure you stir every half hour. Bake for 2 to 3 hours until it looks dry and Caramelized.

Try adding cardamom, chia seed, hemp hearts, hippie stuff.

The BEST granola recipe is Lesley Stowe ( of raincoats crisp fame) .It has no sugar , but a small amount of maple syrup. It has large coconut flakes & ginger. Amazing. Try it.

Excellent granola does not require this much sugar. Try a different recipe.

Wasn't a fan of granola until I decided to try this recipe. Fantastic. Way too salty on the first try (yes, I used Diamond Kosher) so I made a second batch using only one teaspoon of salt and combined the two batches. Perfect. Almonds work well, I did half and half with pistachios. From now on I plan to always have this granola on hand. It goes great with plain kefir.

DELICIOUS. Needs less salt.

This is now my go-to granola recipe, and everyone I've given it to loves it. It's so easy, and is delicious.

Just made this. Wish I’d read some of these comments beforehand. Even though I used Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, a tablespoon of it was way too much. Nearly inedible. I’ll make more of it without salt and less sweetener.

Halve the amount of brown sugar. Reduce salt if using salted nuts