Granola

One of my favorite podcasts, the Slate Culture Gabfest, recently had a goofy segment about granola. The group was in general agreement that granola must do the following in order to be worthy:

-Contain oats, nuts, and some sort of dried fruit
-Be good straight out of the bag AND hold its own in a bowl of milk
-Contain - or have previously contained, prior to jostling - some sizable clusters. (Loose oat "granola" is really just glorified muesli, no?)

I had given up on finding a good GF granola years ago, but this podcast segment got me thinking. So I went for it, and scored big on only the 2nd try. Behold, the most kickass granola, GF or not:

There are a few different flavors but I fell for their Peanut Butter Whole Oat Clusters and haven't strayed. It meets every criteria for perfect granola, save for the inclusion of dried fruit. Since I prefer to add my own (organic Thompson raisins, berries in season, banana, etc.) I see this as a plus. Depending on the package, some of the clusters are as large as a cookie - and taste just like one(!), though are - thankfully - less sweet.

It's widely available at Whole Foods, local groceries and bodegas, Amazon.com, as well as directly from Kind.