Granola
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Granola is a snack food consisting of nuts and rolled oats mixed with honey, and baked until crispy. During the baking process the mixture is stirred to maintain a loose, breakfast cereal type consistency. Dried fruit, particularly raisins or dates, are sometimes also added.
Besides being a snack food, granola is often eaten when hiking or camping because it is lightweight, high in energy, and easy to store. Compare to trail mix.
The names Granula and Granola were trademarks in the late nineteenth-century United States for foods consisting of whole grain products crumbled and baked until crispy. The food and name were revived in the 1960s, and fruits and nuts were added to it to make it a health food popular with the hippie movement. Granola made a major appearance at the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Festival. The name is no longer trademarked.
More recently, granola bars have become popular as a snack. The first granola bars were identical to normal granola except for shape. Instead of a loose, breakfast cereal consistency, granola bars are pressed into a bar shape and baked into that shape. The result is a more convenient snack. These granola bars often contain dried fruit, as normal granola, but sometime contain chocolate chips and other ingredients not normally found in granola.
Another variety is the chewy granola bar. In this variety, the oats are not baked as long (or at all) and do not become crispy. It is questionable whether such a snack should be called granola at all; in fact, some manufacturers prefer cereal bar or snack bar. This variety is more likely to contain chocolate chips (or other candy), marshmallows, peanut butter, and other ingredients not found in granola (and of questionable nutritional value). However, the chewy variety is at this time the most popular in the United States. This is perhaps due to the perception of granola bars being healthier than more traditional snacks, such as cookies and donuts, whether or not this is accurate.
Companies that make granola or granola bars:
