They don’t offer this granola on the menu at Eleven Madison Park, New York’s award-winning, 3-star restaurant serving only plant-based food, with a tasting menu that will run you $365 a pop. Instead, all diners get a jar of the granola as a parting gift at the end of their meal, to serve at tomorrow morning’s breakfast. It’s actually a nice touch…
The restaurant wasn’t always vegan, and not everyone was happy when chef Daniel Humm decided to eschew all but plant-based foods when he re-opened the place in 2021 after a Covid hiatus. Although Eleven Madison was once purported to have a waiting list 50,000 people long, I found plenty of available seating for dinner in December in their online system when I checked today. But the restaurant has kept its 3 Michelin stars and its granola remains a star of the show.
The granola is rumored to be both delicious and addictive, with an unusual saltiness. If you want to try it, you can buy a trio of 10 ounce jars online for just $69.
Or you can make it yourself, using the recipe published in Humm’s pre-vegan Eleven Madison cookbook and on the New York Times website. It’s delicious.
I’ve modified Humm’s recipe to make just 3 cups of granola, because we just won’t go through more than that before it starts to go stale. I’ve also reduced the salt as Sam Sifton of the Times suggests. I love how salt enhances almost anything, but Humm seems to have overdone it a bit in my opinion. (And that’s even after using Diamond kosher salt, which is the least salty per weight of the two Kosher salts) I also over-browned this batch a tad – still getting used to the countertop oven we are using while our gas is shut off. Humm states he cooks it at 350 degrees, but the Times recipe says 300, and when I tried a first batch at 350 it burnt. So stick with 300 degrees, and watch the granola closely while cooking.
Eleven Madison Park Granola (Modified)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Cups Rolled Oats
- 1/2 cup shelled raw pistachios
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut chips, chopped into bite size pieces
- 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 tsp Diamond Kosher salt More or less to taste, but do add some salt.
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup dried sour cherries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, pistachios, coconut, pumpkin seeds 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, watching closely and stirring granola every 10 minutes, for somewhere between 20 and 35 minutes, depending on your oven and desired browning. Granola will still be soft when it's finished, and will crisp up as it cools.
- Remove granola from oven, and mix into it the dried sour cherries. Allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to a storage container. Makes about 3 cups.
