Can I Use Old-Fashioned Oats For The Toasty Olive Oil Granola?

Our answer

Nigella’s Toasty Olive Oil Granola (from SIMPLY NIGELLA) is a granola that is less cloying than some commercial granolas as it does not contain any fried fruit and is only very lightly sweetened with maple syrup. But it has generous amounts of nuts and seeds and is delicious on its own or with berries and yogurt.

The recipe uses rolled oats (known as quick-cooking oats in the US), which are groats that have been husked and steamed before being rolled. This gives medium-sized flakes that are not too hard and can be simmered for only a few minutes to make porridge or oatmeal. We would definitely not use instant oats for granola as these are usually oats that have been ground to very fine powder. They are more like an oat flour and so are not suitable for granola. Old-fashioned oats (in the UK known as jumbo oats) are only rolled until the oats have cracked and are not flattened into flakes. They are harder and larger than the flakes of rolled oats and will require longer cooking for oatmeal. They can be used for granola and some people prefer their chunkier texture. The baking time for the granola is usually similar to granola made with quick-cooking oats, though check the granola slightly earlier (after about 55 minuters of total cooking) and you may need a couple of minutes longer for the granola to dry out. However, make sure that the old-fashioned oats have had all of the oat bran removed as oat bran can tend to turn rancid over time, which can give the oats a bad taste. We would also avoid pinhead oats (steel-cut oats) as these are far too hard in texture for the granola.