View source for Granola

{{short description|Breakfast, lunch and snack food}}
{{Infobox food
| name               = Granola
| image              = Granola, yogurt, fruit. (16696981528).jpg
| image_size         = 
| caption            = Granola served with yogurt and fresh fruit
| alternate_name     = 
| country            = [[United States]]
| region             = 
| creator            = 
| course             = 
| type               = [[Cereals]]
| served             = 
| main_ingredient    = [[Rolled oats]], [[nut (fruit)|nuts]], [[Edible seeds|seeds]], [[honey]] or other [[Sugar substitute|sweeteners]]
| variations         = 
| calories           = 
| other              = 
}}'''Granola''' is a food consisting of a mix of [[rolled oats]], [[nut (fruit)|nuts]], [[Edible seeds|seeds]], [[honey]] (or other [[Sugar substitute|sweeteners]] such as [[brown sugar]]), and sometimes [[puffed rice]] that is usually [[baking|baked]] with [[Cooking oil|oil]] until crisp, toasted and golden brown, sometimes forming clumps. The mixture is stirred while baking to avoid burning and to maintain a loose [[breakfast cereal]] consistency. [[Dried fruit]], such as [[raisin]]s and [[Date palm|dates]], and [[Confectionery|confections]] such as [[chocolate]] are often added.

Granola is often eaten in combination with [[yogurt]], honey, fresh fruit (such as [[banana]]s, [[Strawberry|strawberries]] or [[blueberries]]), [[milk]], or even with other forms of cereal. It also serves as a topping for various [[pastry|pastries]], [[dessert]]s or [[ice cream]]. Granola is similar to [[muesli]], except the latter is traditionally neither sweetened nor baked.

Granola is sometimes taken when [[hiking]], [[camping]], or [[backpacking (wilderness)|backpacking]] because it is lightweight, high in [[calorie]]s, ready-to-eat, and easy to store (properties that make it similar to [[trail mix]]). Manufacturers also add additional honey, [[corn syrup]], or [[maple syrup]] to it and compress it into [[Granola bar|granola bars]], which are easy to carry for [[packed lunch]]es, hiking, or other outdoor activities.

== History ==
[[File:Granola advertisement, 1893.png|thumb|An 1893 advertisement for Kellogg's Granola]]
[[Granula]] was invented in [[Dansville, Livingston County, New York|Dansville, New York]], by Dr. [[James Caleb Jackson]] at the [[Jackson Sanatorium|Jackson Sanitarium]] in 1863.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Nibble: Granola Girl. Part 1, the History of Granola|url=https://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/cereals/granola-girl-cereal.asp#history|access-date=6 April 2020|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128073954/http://www.thenibble.com/REVIEWS/main/cereals/granola-girl-cereal.asp#history|url-status=live}}</ref> The Jackson Sanitarium was a prominent [[Health club|health spa]] that operated into the early 20th century on the hillside overlooking Dansville. It was also known as Our Home on the Hillside; thus the company formed to sell Jackson's cereal was known as the Our Home Granula Company. Granula was composed of [[Graham flour]] and was similar to an oversized form of [[Grape-Nuts]]. A similar cereal was developed by [[John Harvey Kellogg]]. It was also initially known as Granula, but the name was changed to Granola to avoid legal problems with Jackson.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Perman |first=Cindy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aeNoa8C4c8AC&dq=Granola+name+changed+Jackson&pg=PA17 |title=New York Curiosities, 2nd: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff |date=2013-01-15 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7627-7496-8 |language=en}}</ref>

The food and name were revived in the 1960s, and fruits and nuts were added to it to make it a [[health food]] that was popular with the health and nature-oriented [[hippie]] movement. Due to this connection, the descriptors "granola" and "crunchy-granola" have entered colloquial use as a way to label people and things associated with the movement.<ref name="granola_definition">{{cite web |title=Crunchy-granola Definition & Meaning |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/crunchy-granola#:~:text=%2F%20%CB%88kr%CA%8Cn%20t%CA%83i%20gr%C9%99%CB%88no%CA%8A%20l%C9%99%20%2F%20PHONETIC,natural%20products%20and%20health%20foods. |website=dictionary.com |access-date=6 January 2023 |archive-date=7 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107192826/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/crunchy-granola#:~:text=%2F%20%CB%88kr%CA%8Cn%20t%CA%83i%20gr%C9%99%CB%88no%CA%8A%20l%C9%99%20%2F%20PHONETIC,natural%20products%20and%20health%20foods. |url-status=live }}</ref>

Another major promoter was Layton Gentry, profiled in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' as "Johnny Granola-Seed".<ref name="#CITEREF1972|Time 1972">[[#CITEREF1972|Time 1972]]</ref> In 1964, Gentry sold the rights to a granola recipe using oats, which he claimed to have invented himself, to Sovex Natural Foods for $3,000. The company was founded in 1953 in [[Holly, Michigan]] by the Hurlinger family with the main purpose of producing a concentrated paste of brewers [[yeast]] and [[soy sauce]] known as "Sovex". Earlier in 1964, it had been bought by John Goodbrad and moved to [[Collegedale, Tennessee]]. In 1967, Gentry bought back the rights for west of the [[Rocky Mountains|Rockies]] for $1,500 and then sold the west coast rights to Wayne Schlotthauer of Lassen Foods in [[Chico, California]], for $18,000.<ref name="#CITEREF1972|Time 1972" /> Lassen was founded from a health food bakery run by Schlotthauer's father-in-law.<ref name="#CITEREFKlein1978|Klein 1978">[[#CITEREFKlein1978|Klein 1978]]</ref>[[File:Granola03242006.JPG|thumb|A bowl of dry, plain granola]]

In 1969, during [[Woodstock]], [[Lisa Law]] asked the festival organizers for $3,000 to buy, in [[New York City]], [[rolled oats]], [[bulgar wheat]], [[wheat germ]], [[dried apricots]], [[Ribes|currants]], [[almonds]], [[soy sauce]], and [[honey]] to make [[muesli]]. Volunteers fed circa 130,000 people with [[Dixie cup]]s.<ref name="americanhistory.si.edu/lisalaw/7">{{cite web |title=Lisa Law: Organizing Woodstock |url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/lisalaw/7.htm |website=americanhistory.si.edu |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-date=19 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819212400/https://americanhistory.si.edu/lisalaw/7.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="edition.cnn.com-twih.woodstock">{{cite news |title=Flashing back to Woodstock |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/08/13/twih.woodstock/ |access-date=27 March 2022 |work=CNN |last=Milly |first=Jenna |date=2004-08-17 |archive-date=2022-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328002131/https://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/08/13/twih.woodstock/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="smithsonianmag-woodstock-feed">{{cite web |last1=Bramen |first1=Lisa |title=Woodstock—How to Feed 400,000 Hungry Hippies |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/woodstockhow-to-feed-400000-hungry-hippies-65740098/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine |access-date=27 March 2022 |language=en |archive-date=28 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328002131/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/woodstockhow-to-feed-400000-hungry-hippies-65740098/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="nytimes-crosswords">{{cite news |last1=Amlen |first1=Deb |title='What We Have in Mind Is Breakfast in Bed for 400,000' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2019-08-14.html |access-date=27 March 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=14 August 2019 |archive-date=28 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328002914/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2019-08-14.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="woodstockpreservation-FoodLine">{{cite web |title=The Foodline - Woodstock and Granola |url=http://www.woodstockpreservation.org/Gallery/TheFoodLine.htm |website=woodstockpreservation.org |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-date=17 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517040223/http://www.woodstockpreservation.org/Gallery/TheFoodLine.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="newberrymagazine-woodstock-dixie-cup">{{cite web |title=Woodstock at 50: Good-for-You Groovy In a Dixie Cup |url=https://www.newberrymagazine.com/home/2019/7/16/woodstock-at-50-good-for-you-groovy-in-a-dixie-cup |website=Newberry Magazine |last=Summer |first=Sue |date=16 July 2019 |access-date=28 March 2022 |archive-date=23 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923135635/https://www.newberrymagazine.com/home/2019/7/16/woodstock-at-50-good-for-you-groovy-in-a-dixie-cup |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1972, an executive at [[Pet Incorporated|Pet Milk]], [[St. Louis, Missouri]], introduced Heartland Natural Cereal, the first major commercial granola.<ref name="#CITEREFKlein1978|Klein 1978" /> At almost the same time, the [[Quaker Oats Company]] introduced Quaker 100% Natural Granola. Quaker was threatened with legal action by Gentry, and they subsequently changed the name of their product to [[Harvest Crunch]]. Within a year, [[Kellogg's]] had introduced its "Country Morning" granola cereal and [[General Mills]] had introduced its "[[Nature Valley]]".<ref>[[#CITEREFBruceCrawford1995|Bruce 1995]] p. 244</ref> In 1974, McKee Baking (later [[McKee Foods]]), makers of [[Little Debbie]] snack cakes, purchased Sovex. In 1998, the company also acquired the Heartland brand and moved its manufacturing to Collegedale. In 2004, Sovex's name was changed to "Blue Planet Foods".<ref>{{cite web |title=Blue Planet Foods, Inc. history |url=http://www.blueplanetfoods.net/history.htm |access-date=2006-12-16 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203065112/http://www.blueplanetfoods.net/history.htm |archive-date=2007-02-03 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Heartland History |url=http://www.heartlandbrands.com/AboutHeartland/History.htm |access-date=2006-12-16 |date=Mar 2002 |last=Mixson |first=Jm |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=35–9 |issn=1089-6287 |pmid=11944502 |journal=Journal of the History of Dentistry |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061031194247/http://www.heartlandbrands.com/AboutHeartland/History.htm |archive-date = October 31, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=McKee Foods Company History |url=http://www.mckeefoods.com/About%5Fus/Company%5FHistory/ |access-date=2006-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315205847/http://www.mckeefoods.com/About%5Fus/Company%5FHistory/ |archive-date=2008-03-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Granola bar ==
'''Granola bars''' (or '''muesli bars''') have become{{when?|date=April 2025}} popular as a snack, similar to the traditional [[flapjack (oat bar)|flapjack]] familiar in the [[British Isles]] and [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]]. Granola bars consist of granola mixed with [[honey]] or other sweetened [[syrup]], pressed and baked into a bar shape, resulting in the production of a more convenient snack. The product is most popular in the United States,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wunsch |first=Nils-Gerrit |date=Dec 1, 2021 |title=U.S. dollar sales of private label cereal and granola by segment 2018 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/420348/us-dollar-sales-of-private-label-cereal-and-granola-by-segment/ |url-status=live |access-date=Apr 11, 2022 |website=Statista |archive-date=April 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411225501/https://www.statista.com/statistics/420348/us-dollar-sales-of-private-label-cereal-and-granola-by-segment/ }}</ref> Canada, Australia, [[New Zealand]], the United Kingdom, parts of [[southern Europe]], [[Brazil]], [[Israel]], [[South Africa]], and [[Japan]].[[File:Granola bar.jpg|thumb|Closeup of a granola bar showing the detail of its pressed shape|center|497x497px]]

==Matzo granola==
Matzo granola is a breakfast food eaten by some [[Jewish]] people during the holiday of [[Passover]]. It consists of broken up [[Matzah|matzo]] pieces in place of oats.  Many variations are possible by adding other ingredients.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSNcDAAAQBAJ&q=Matzo+granola&pg=PA111|title=Matzo: 35 Recipes for Passover and All Year Long|first1=Michele Streit|last1=Heilbrun|first2=David|last2=Kirschner|date=7 March 2017|page=22|publisher=Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed |isbn=9780804189002|access-date=8 October 2020|archive-date=8 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808090822/https://books.google.com/books?id=nSNcDAAAQBAJ&q=Matzo+granola&pg=PA111|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Amg_BAAAQBAJ&q=%22Matzo+granola%22&pg=PA24 Modern Jewish Cooking: Recipes & Customs for Today's Kitchen], Leah Koenig, page 24</ref><ref>[https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2016/04/18/recipe-for-passover-matzo-granola/MNwXkKcbfijRnluYvYezCI/story.html Recipe for Passover matzo granola] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322015948/https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2016/04/18/recipe-for-passover-matzo-granola/MNwXkKcbfijRnluYvYezCI/story.html |date=2018-03-22 }}, Boston Globe, 18 April 2016</ref>

==Trademark==
The names ''[[Granula]]'' and ''Granola'' were registered [[trademark]]s in the late 19th century United States for foods consisting of sweetened [[whole grain]] products crumbled and then baked until crisp.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} The name is now a trademark only in Australia and New Zealand.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} However, the use of the term granola in Australia was clarified in 2012 when [[Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company|Sanitarium Health foods]] alleged trademark infringement by the word's usage on the product labels of Irrewarra sourdough. The [[Federal Court of Australia]] concluded that use of the word granola had become commonplace and could not infringe Sanitarium's right to the term when used to describe the product itself, rather than as a trademark.<ref>Australian Health & Nutrition Association Limited trading as Sanitarium Health Food Company v Irrewarra Estate Pty Ltd trading as Irrewarra Sourdough [2012] FCA 592; 292 ALR 101</ref>{{better citation needed|date=February 2025}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* {{cite magazine |last=Klein |first=Joe |author-link=Joe Klein |title=A Social History of Granola |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=February 23, 1978 |issue=259 |pages=40–44}}
* {{cite book |last1=Bruce |first1=Scott |last2=Crawford |first2=Bill |title=Cerealizing America: The Unsweetened Story of American Breakfast Cereal |year=1995 |pages=8, 21, 243–246}}

{{Oats}}

[[Category:Breakfast cereals]]
[[Category:Breakfast]]
[[Category:Cereals]]
[[Category:Convenience foods]]
[[Category:Nut dishes]]
[[Category:Snack foods]]
[[Category:Oat-based dishes]]