Canadian Harvest Crunch Copycat
Yield: approximately 7–8 cups
Oven: 325°F
INGREDIENTS
Dry mixture
4 cups large-flake rolled oats
1 cup rolled whole wheat flakes
¾ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
¾ cup sliced almonds
⅓ cup skim milk powder
¼ tsp salt
Sweet coating
½ cup packed light brown sugar
⅓ cup honey
⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine:
rolled oats
rolled whole wheat
coconut
sliced almonds
milk powder
salt
Mix thoroughly.
In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, honey, coconut oil and water.
Heat over medium-low, stirring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is smooth.
Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
Pour the hot mixture over the oat mixture.
Mix extremely well. Every bit of the oats should be lightly coated. Don't mash it together yet.
Dump the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread it into an even layer about ½–¾ inch thick.
Here's the important part:
Using the back of a spatula, firmly press the mixture together.
We want a fairly compact sheet rather than loose granola. This is what will eventually give you those characteristic Harvest Crunch clusters.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Rotate the pan and continue baking for another 10–15 minutes, until the edges and top are golden brown.
Remove from the oven.
DO NOT STIR IT.
Don't even be tempted.
Let the entire sheet cool completely — preferably at least 1 hour.
Once completely cold, break it apart with your hands into the size of clusters you want.
Store in an airtight container.
⭐ THE HARVEST CRUNCH TEST
The cereal should be:
Crunchy → sweet → honey/brown-sugar flavour → noticeable coconut → almond crunch → with lots of little oat clusters.
It should not taste like ordinary soft granola.
🔧 IF YOU WANT IT EVEN CLOSER
After making the first batch, make these adjustments based on your taste:
Want more of the commercial sweetness?
Add another 2 Tbsp brown sugar.
Want stronger honey flavour?
Increase honey to ½ cup and reduce the water to 1 Tbsp.
Want bigger, harder clusters?
Press the mixture more firmly before baking and let it cool completely before breaking it apart.
Want more almonds like the commercial cereal?
Increase sliced almonds to 1 cup.
IMPORTANT
This recipe intentionally uses milk powder because the Canadian commercial cereal contains modified milk ingredients.
The real cereal also has coconut oil, which is important to reproducing its particular crispness and flavour.
This is a copycat, not Quaker's proprietary recipe, so the proportions are my reverse-engineered version rather than the manufacturer's formula.
