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In my experience, “Passover” and “delicious” and “weekday breakfast” are not words that belong in the same sentence. On Passover, Jews must remove all grains from their diet, including anything derived from wheat, barley, oats, rye and spelt. That means no cereal, no muffins, no bagels, no oatmeal — essentially, none of the staples that get me through my workday morning.

Sure, there are “Kosher for Passover” muffins and cereals made with matzah meal, but have you ever tasted some of these alleged breakfast goodies? Most of them are gritty, tasteless disasters. And of course there is always the taste sensation that is matzah itself, but somehow allowing my stomach’s first encounter with food in more than 8 hours to be an indigestible cardboard-like wafer seems like cruel and unusual punishment.

Friends have told me that breakfast is the “easiest” meal during Passover because you can eat scrambled eggs and breakfast potatoes and omelets. Perhaps these people have time to prepare a leisurely breakfast on your average Tuesday morning. I don’t.

So year after year, I’m on a quest to find quick, tasty breakfast recipes that I can eat during Passover, and this year, I may have hit the jackpot: Kosher for Passover granola. Matzah farfel (basically ground up matzah) stands in for the oats in a nut-filled granola, sweetened with honey and flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg and coconut.

You can sprinkled some over a bowl of Greek yogurt and honey, as I do, or you can eat it with milk or right out of your hand. I don’t think I’ll complain about Passover breakfast ever again.

Passover Granola
Adapted from the Washington Post

Note: You can use any kind of nuts or dried fruit you like for this recipe. For the fruit, I used a mix of raisins, dried cranberries and chopped dried figs, but you can use anything you like. Also, the recipe makes a LOT of granola, so feel free to make half or 2/3 of the recipe.

3 cups matzah farfel
2/3 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup unsweeted shredded coconut
2/3 cup walnut pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 cups chopped dried fruit (can be a single kind or a mix)

Preheat the oven to 325F. Lightly spray a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick spray.

Combine the farfel, almonds, coconut, walnuts, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl, mixing well.

Place the butter and honey in a small microwave-safe bowl. Cook on high for 1 minute to melt the butter, stirring the mixture every 20 seconds so that it doesn’t bubble over. Make sure the mixture is well blended.

Pour the butter and honey over the farfel mixture and stir, being sure to coat all of the pieces. Spread the mixture onto the rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through to ensure even browning. Keep your eye on the granola towards the end of the baking time — you don’t want it to burn. It should be golden brown.

Remove from the oven and transfer the granola to a large sheet of wax paper. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Add the dried fruit and toss together. Allow the granola to cool completely, then store in an airtight container. I also find that freezing granola in small batches helps to keep it crunchy and fresh.

Yield: About 10 cups

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Tags: Breakfast, Granola, Matzah, Passover, Pesach