*From Loosha's Fridge, With Love* Granola

A recipe for her favorite granola that is sure to become your life philosophy

Loosha’s favorite part of baking with me (aside from all that quality time with her mom, right?!) is the tasting. With granola, she is free to taste a million trillion times. It’s a finger-licking free-for-all, and that makes everyone very happy. I don’t have to tell her no, and she fully engages all her senses. Being a good parent is hard; being a great parent is truly tough stuff.

Aside from raw oats maybe being a little hard for some to digest (my child’s stomach is made of Damascus steel, so she is fine), everything in there is good to go. It’s a great opportunity, from my standpoint as a mom and a chef, to get a kid really thinking about how different ingredients change the flavors in the bowl. It’s an edible science experiment with a great end result.

Loosha knows that just oats and oil are not so yummy. How does she know? She tastes some. Get that maple flowing, and things get interesting for her. Tahini makes things mushier, and cinnamon and salt start to wake up the flavors. Taste, taste, taste. In fact, the addition of vanilla was all hers! She is so accustomed to adding it when we bake that she splashed some in, and it was a great touch, especially with the coconut chips, which were also all her idea (since Moana loves coconuts, we do too).

Looks simple, because it is, but that’s what we love about it.

Loosha’s Crunchy Sesame Buckwheat Granola

While granola is remarkably foolproof, and our recipe is no different, it also contains a few tricks I’ve gathered over the years to ensure you end up with something deliciously sweet but not saccharine, with clusters that pair perfectly with milk (our preference), yogurt, or even for snacking dry. We tend to eat half a container's worth straight from the tray, it’s that good!