Oh, granola

You know how I complained a while ago about my problems with oatmeal? About how it never keeps me going and how it makes me have blood sugar crashes? This makes me sad, because I do like oats and oatmeal, and it is a good whole grain to have in my diet. It must be something about the cooking process that makes oatmeal not like me, because I have no such problems with granola.

I have posted a lovely granola recipe here before, and I still love it, but with all the various dried fruits that require a trip to Whole Foods, I don't make it very often these days. And after making my own, I can't really face the granola from the store - it is just not worth it. Luckily, I found a new, simpler recipe for granola on one of the best food blogs ever, Orangette. It is just oats, nuts (I used almonds and pecans), salt, coconut, maple syrup (which doesn't taste at all maple-y after cooking, in case you - like Benjamin - don't like maple flavor) and oil, and it tastes heavenly. I made a half batch a week or so ago, and devoured it. I made another batch today, larger this time, because I was craving it.

Here is the original recipe and post over on Orangette. I am not going to post the actual recipe because you should go read it straight from her - she is such a good writer - and because she has some helpful instructions. Not to mention links to other granola recipes. Go try it. You will thank me.

More granola

Ways to eat granola:

• Straight - grab a handful and toss it back. That is what I have done for dessert the past few days.
  
• Mixed in with yogurt - I use homemade plain, Benjamin uses Wallaby, various flavors. The tartness of the yogurt contrasts nicely with the honey sweetness of the fruit and oats.
  
• Sprinkled on top of ice cream - self-explanatory, and possibly better than chocolate sauce.
• Baked into bread - I have not tried this myself, but have several recipes for granola bread. I am not sure it is necessary, since oatmeal bread is granola without the oatmeal flakes being baked. I suppose if you had a special type of granola...but the granola I made this week is far too good to waste in bread.

Yum.

Granola

Our friend Amber gave us a bag of homemade granola for Christmas, little knowing what she would set off. It was a lovely, fruit-filled granola - with figs, dried apricots, craisins, dried cherries, almonds, cashews and coconut. You can't get granola like that at the store, even Whole Foods. There, the granola only has one fruit, maybe two at most, with little crunchy puffed rice and other sorts of grains. And it isn't fresh. So, after we devoured our gift bag, I began to beg for her recipe. This weekend, I finally got it, and was at Whole Foods, so I could get all the dried fruit. I made a batch, and as soon as it was mixed together, we started munching on it. Last night, I had granola for dessert instead of mint cookie ice cream...on purpose! I mean, I chose granola over ice cream, because I wanted it more. I have been eating it with my homemade yogurt for my morning snack. Seems like in addition to baking my own bread and making my own yogurt, I am going to be hooked on granola too.

Here is the recipe. Amber and I are fiddling with it, to see if we can make it even better, but this is the basic recipe.
Amber's Mom's Granola:

• 4 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• 2 cups flaked coconut (optional - I don't like coconut, so I left it out when I made it, but I didn't notice it when it was in the original batch)
• 2 cups sliced almonds (I didn't have sliced almonds, or enough almonds, so I just chopped up whole almonds, threw in some peanuts, and extra cashews)
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup olive or canola oil
• 1/2 cup honey

Mix all these together in a large bowl and spread on a parchment lined baking sheet (this is essential - otherwise, it will stick to the pan and make a huge mess. Believe me, I know.)
Bake at 300 F for 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Let the granola cool for a few minutes, then return to the bowl and add:

• 1 cup dried figs, chopped (I used Mission, but I bet you could use any variety you like)
• 1 cup dried cherries (I used Bing, but I bet the sour cherries would also be good)
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup dried apricots, chopped (I used unsulphered Turkish apricots from WF, they are less sticky and not so orange. And they taste great.)
• 1/2 - 1 cup roasted cashews or hazelnuts

When completely cool, store in an airtight container. Might want to make it one that is hard to open, or it won't last very long.

Addendum: I just found this recipe on the internet, and it looks like it may originally have come from Nantucket Open-House Cookbook by Sarah Chase. I may have to check this book out at the library.