The Lunch Lady, with a football player holding a whisk and a chop

The Lunch Lady

Chocolate chip granola squares

Oats, honey, olive oil and chocolate chips pressed into a pan, with flaky salt scattered over the top while it's hot.

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By Jared Veldheer

Published · Updated

Servings
16 small squares
Total time
About 2 hours 15 minutes, including cooling and chilling
Breakfast burrito halves with egg, sausage and cheese, beside salsa, a granola square, watermelon, blueberries and pickled vegetables.
Thursday's tray, with a chocolate chip granola square at right.

Salt them while they're hot

This started with our house granola pressed into a pan and cut into squares. The home version below uses brown sugar and extra honey to help the squares hold together. It's straightforward. I added chocolate chips to this batch, and they went over well in the lunchroom.

My favorite part is the flaky salt. I use Maldon. Those flakes have a texture that makes a chocolate chip granola square taste even better, no matter how old you are.

Put the salt on as soon as the pan comes out. It catches on the warm, sticky surface and stays with the granola. Wait until everything is cold and dry and more of it ends up loose in the pan.

Home recipe

Chocolate chip granola squares

The Lunch Lady · Jared Veldheer

Servings
16 small squares
Prep time
About 15 minutes
Cook time
About 35 minutes
Total time
About 2 hours 15 minutes, including cooling and chilling

Equipment: A 9-inch square metal baking pan, parchment paper, mixing bowl, small saucepan, food processor and sharp knife.

Ingredients

Check off ingredients as you go.

Granola

Instructions

Granola

  1. Heat the oven to 300°F conventional or 275°F convection. Line a 9-inch square metal pan with parchment, leaving enough hanging over two sides to lift the cooled slab.
  2. Finely grind 30 g of the measured oats in a food processor. Mix with the remaining oats, chia, cinnamon and kosher salt. Warm the honey, brown sugar and olive oil in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring just until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla, then stir into the oat mixture until thoroughly coated.
  3. Press firmly and evenly into the pan, reaching all the corners. Lay another piece of parchment over the top and use a flat-bottomed measuring cup to compact it. Remove the top parchment before baking.
  4. Bake for about 25 to 35 minutes, checking at 20 minutes, until the edges are golden and the center no longer looks wet. Turn the pan if one side is browning faster. The slab will still be soft when hot.
  5. Immediately scatter the flaky salt and chocolate chips over the hot granola. Let the chips soften for a minute, then gently press them into the surface with parchment. Don't stir them through the slab.
  6. Leave the slab undisturbed until completely cool, about 1 hour. Refrigerate in the pan for at least 30 minutes until firm, then lift with the parchment and cut into 16 squares with a sharp knife. Press straight down rather than sawing.

Recipe notes

  • These are tender squares, not hard snack bars. Compact the mixture firmly and cut only after cooling and chilling. Keep them refrigerated for the firmest texture.
  • Use the measured honey and brown sugar for these squares. Allulose or Besti Brown is not an equivalent binder here; save it for the loose house granola.
  • Add the chips after baking so they soften onto the top instead of melting through the entire batch.
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