Granola
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Granola is a breakfast food and snack food consisting of nuts, rolled oats mixed with honey, or other natural ingredients. The mixture is 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 breakfast food and snack food, granola is often eaten when hiking or camping because it is lightweight, high in energy, and easy to store; similar to a trail mix.
The names Granula, Granola and Ganolietta were trademarks in the late Nineteenth century United States for foods consisting of whole grain products crumbled and baked until crispy; compare the contemporary Swiss invention, Muesli. 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 except in Australia where it is by the Australian Health & Nutrition Association Ltd.'s Sanitarium Health Food Company.
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 was a more convenient snack.
Another variety is the chewy granola bar. In this variety, the oats are not baked as long (or at all) for a chewy mouth-feel. Due to the more pleasing texture of chewy granola, it is at this time the most popular variety in the United States. Some question whether such a snack should be called granola at all; in fact, some manufacturers prefer cereal bar or snack bar.
In the 1990s, many cereal producers introduced "low fat" granola as an alternative to traditional granola, as part of the contemporary low fat craze. The low fat granola tends to be dryer than traditional granola, and may indeed be healthier if the recipe is not further modified to add sugars or other empty calories. Granola is sometimes perceived as being healthier than more traditional snacks, such as cookies or doughnuts. This is not strictly accurate, as many manufacturers have begun adding marshmallows, chocolate chips, peanut butter, hydrogenated oils, and other ingredients not found in traditional granola. Although it is true these types of modern granola are closer to junk food, they may contain an amount of fiber and other nutrients (due to the lack of refined flours and oils) not found in other kinds of snacks.
Quaker Chewy is a popular brand of this.
"Granola" is also used as a slang term describing a person who is hippie-like, a modern bohemian, environmentalist, or leftist in outlook.