Sometimes simple is best, as I found out during a venture into granola-making.

I wanted to explore a way to use gluten-free oats, an important discovery because while so many gluten-free eaters can tolerate traditional oats, I’m among the minority who cannot.

It turns out granola is a perfect platform for shining a spotlight on oats, simply because it is ridiculously delicious — and ridiculously easy to make.

Bonus: Granola recipes are also ridiculously flexible, as I learned from Maile Kamisugi, a local gluten-free baker and owner of Ulu & Kalo Bakery. Kamisugi has created an array of granola options, which she posts on her website (uluandkalobakery.com).

“Definitely, granola is whatever you want to put in it,” she said.

Her granolas illustrate that diversity. One is a coffee and coconut version, for instance, that includes cacao nibs and instant coffee granules along with various seeds and walnuts — no oats at all.

There’s even a recipe out in the world called “lactation granola,” said Kamisugi, a mix of peanut butter, oats, chocolate and black sesame seeds, for nursing mothers.

And some purists prefer their granola stripped down: just oats.

Kamisugi appreciates granola for its nutritional capacity, and she eats a version with seeds and nuts as a breakfast cereal with milk. “Oats are a grain, and nuts and seeds really hold you. It’s nutrient dense.” In fact, oats are rich in fiber, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus and thiamine.

She said another way to add value to granola is to include flaxseed meal. It provides omega-3 fatty acids and acts as a binder.

Her general tips: The ratio of oats to liquid is 3 to 1. While most recipes call for equal parts vegetable oil and maple syrup, Kamisugi recommends more syrup than oil. She said some of the syrup can be replaced with coconut sugar, a more healthful sweetener, but the quantity of syrup should still be more than the oil.

“When you mix the wet and dry ingredients, everything should come together as a mass,” she said. “Oats take a lot of wet. When everything is coated, it’s good.”

If you make peanut butter granola, it’s still necessary to add oil, she said. “If not, it dries in the mouth.”

Because granola making is so simple, I tried to take it a step further, adding my granola to a quick bread batter. Since it included nuts and seeds, I imagined it would add all kinds of texture and interest. But the results in a pumpkin bread were humdrum, tamping down the granola’s crunch and tastiness.

Using it instead as a topping on pumpkin bread showed the granola in its best light: hearty and crunchy, with a caramel-y flavor. Granola also is a popular yogurt topping, and Kamisugi recommends it on ice cream.

As long as the proportion of oats to liquid remains the same, any type and amount of nuts, seeds, fruit and chocolate may be used. Or don’t use any at all.

GLUTEN-FREE GRANOLA

• 3 cups gluten-free oats
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup dried fruit, any type
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment. Set aside.

In large bowl, combine oats, nuts, seeds, cinnamon and salt. Stir to combine well.

Add oil and syrup. Mix thoroughly to coat everything well.

Spread mixture evenly on lined baking sheet. Bake 7 minutes; check pan. When oats brown, use spatula to turn mixture over.

Bake another 5 to 7 minutes and check for browning every 3 minutes or so. Turn again if needed.

When oats are golden, remove pan from oven. Total baking time is 20 to 30 minutes. Cool pan.

Place cooled granola in big bowl, add dried fruit and chocolate chips, and incorporate well. Store in sealed container. Makes about 6 cups.

Approximate nutritional information, per 1/3 cup serving: 320 calories, 19 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, no cholesterol, 100 mg sodium, 32 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 10 g sugar, 8 g protein.

“Going Gluten-Free” helps meet the cooking and dining challenges faced by those on wheat-free diets. It runs on the first Wednesday of each month. Send questions and suggestions to Joleen Oshiro, joshiro@staradvertiser.com.