Coconut Almond Granola with Four Fruits

 

I know I'm dating myself here, but to the younger generation, let me tell you that Kate Hudson has a mom named Goldie Hawn. Back in the day she made some very funny movies, among them a breakout film called “Private Benjamin.” I'll never forget when she joined the army how surprised she was that it was not at ALL as depicted in the commercials -- no condos, no great meals, no beach vacations. Nope, just marching around in the rain, during which time she recited a rather funny monologue about what she wanted to do, and how she was a “nice person” and shouldn't have to endure such torture. To illustrate her remark she said she never “…went to anyone's house empty-handed.”

Well, I'm pretty much the same. I’m going to dinner tonight and, like Private Benjamin, I never go any place empty-handed, so thought I'd make up some Coconut Almond Granola and take a large jar to the hostess, and two smaller bags to the other couples who will be in attendance. It is so delicious that you can pretty much skip the bananas, milk, yogurt, and spoon, and just dig in!

This is my own personal recipe, a mishmash of a variety of others I've run across over the years. I've found you can pretty much toss in what you like according to what happens to be in your pantry at the time.

Coconut Almond Granola with Four Fruits

4 c. old-fashioned oats

¾ c. sliced almonds

½ c. sweetened flaked coconut
½ c. sunflower, pumpkin, or flax seeds

2/3 c. (packed) brown sugar

1½ t. ground allspice

½ t. kosher salt

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter

4 T. honey

½ c. pitted, chopped dates

½ c. dried apricots, quartered

½ c. golden raisins

½ c. raisins, dried cranberries, blueberries, or cherries

Preheat oven to 300°F. Mix first 8 ingredients in large bowl. Melt butter with honey in heavy small saucepan over low heat. Pour over granola mixture and toss well. Spread out mixture on baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add dried fruits; mix to separate any clumps. Continue to bake until granola is golden brown, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes longer. Cool. Do ahead. Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

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Gingered Apricot Granola

Someone asked me the other day why it is that every fall we seem to happily embrace pumpkin spice. Honestly I don't know. It's become quite a thing in recent years, and I see huge displays of pumpkin spice items in the grocery stores. Not that I'm complaining. I've fallen on the pumpkin spice bandwagon myself, but it is puzzling that we just tend to go for it in the fall months; pumpkin pie spice and canned pumpkin are available year-round.

I feel the same way about soups, stews, and homemade granola. It's not all that often that I make these things during the summer, but once fall hits, I'm making them like crazy. Homemade granola is something I absolutely love, not just as a cereal for breakfast, but also as a topping for quick breads and coffee cakes, a mix-in for salads, as a crunchy ice cream or yogurt topping, and, if it's chunky enough, to eat as a snack on its own.

Making granola is very easy once you have a basic recipe. Essentially oats, a sweetener, and a binder are pretty much all that you need. I like to experiment by building on these things, throwing in different fruits, nuts, and spices that I like, to see what I end up with.  You can seriously go crazy with all of the combinations that are available. Consider, for example, pumpkin pie spice and Pepitas in place of nuts for a pumpkin spice granola. If you prefer apple pie, make an apple pie granola using chopped dried apples, walnuts, and apple pie spice. You're limited only by your imagination, so take this recipe and run with it.

This week I came up with a maple syrup-sweetened apricot and crystallized ginger variety that is quite an eye-opener for breakfast in the morning thanks to its peppery ginger addition.

Nothing is easier than throwing this together. You can do it in a couple of minutes, bake it up, give it a stir halfway through baking, let it cool, and serve. I keep glass jars on the counter in the kitchen filled with different cereals, one of which contains homemade granola. You’re going to want to give this recipe a try.

Gingered Apricot Granola

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 8-ounce can mixed nuts

½  teaspoon salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1/3 cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup crystallized ginger, diced fine

1 3-ounce package Melissa’s dried apricots, diced fine

 
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir first 7 ingredients together in a large bowl.

Spread mixture evenly in a large shallow 1” deep baking pan and bake, stirring and halfway through baking, until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Cool granola in pans on racks for 15 minutes, and then stir in ginger and apricots.

This post is linked to: Wow Us Wednesday, Work It Wednesday, Wine’d Down Wednesday, Coffee and Conversation, Share Your Style, Thursday Favorite Things, and Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Cereal Killer Cookies

If you have been reading my blog over the years, or have taken a look at my mystery jewelry shop, then you know that I love mysteries. You may also know, if you've read carefully, that I have a specific liking for culinary mysteries, particularly those with recipes in the back. Previously I have shared Mysterious Cinnamon Rolls, Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins, and Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal, all of which I've found while enjoying a good mystery. Today's recipe is another of that ilk, this one from Diane Mott Davidson's book The Cereal Murders, #3 in the series of Goldy Bear culinary mysteries.

Largely I'm a fan of a thick, dense, crispy cookie, but these chewy gems turned out to be positively addicting. I had cut the recipe in half (as I often do when trying a new one), and was immediately sorry that I did, as was Mr. O-P who expressed his concerns through a mouth full of cookies. The brickle bits really take these over the top. They are not the prettiest cookie on the plate, but they are simultaneously crunchy and chewy, and bursting with toffee flavor; you will not be able to stop at just one. Why you'll love these is no mystery.

Cereal Killer Cookies

From The Cereal Murders by Diane Mott Davidson

2¼ cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 6-ounce packages almond brickle chips (Bits O’ Brickle)
1 2/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix the oats with the brickle chips; set aside. In another medium mixing bowl sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together; set aside. In a food processor mix the sugars until blended, then gradually add butter. Continue to process until creamy and smooth. Add eggs and vanilla and process until blended. Add the flour mixture and process just until combined. Pour this mixture over the oats and brickle chips and stir until well combined. Using a 2-tablespoon measure, measure out scoops of dough and place at least 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on racks. Makes 4-5 dozen

This post is linked to:

The Scoop

Wow Us Wednesday
Work It Wednesday

What’s It Wednesday

Thursday Favorite Things

Full Plate Thursday

\Create It Thursday 

Happy National Cereal Day!

March is National Cereal Month and today is National Cereal Day, so what better way to celebrate breakfast and cereal than with a nice bowl of homemade Granola?

This recipe comes from my beloved St. Louis Days, St. Louis Nights Cookbook. A cookbook that I've had for many years and is full of my annotations.   As you can see from my comments here, I haven't made it in quite a while.  I've used so many other recipes in recent years that I had completely forgotten about this one until this morning when I was paging through the book looking for an idea for supper.  Was it as good as I remembered?  It was!  Now make a batch of your own for yourself and to share with friends.  Enjoy!

Fun Cereal Facts

• Cereal was invented during the Colonial era when housewives started to serve popcorn with sugar and cream for breakfast. 
• Today, nearly half of all Americans start their day with a bowl of cereal. 
• Studies show that breakfast is indeed the most important meal of the day. It can help improve your energy level, concentration, and mood. 
• The healthiest types of cereal are made from whole grains and contain fiber and protein. 
• One serving of most cereals can also provide 10 to 25 percent of the daily value for more than 10 essential nutrients. 
• There are approximately 2.7 billion boxes of cereal sold each year, enough packages to circle around the globe thirteen times.
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Soul-satisfying Steel Cut Oats

It was with great anticipation that I awaited the arrival of this morning's New York Times, as the Wednesday issue (like the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and presumably every other national paper) has the beloved Food Section.  At this time of the year it usually means the year-end wrap-up of the best of the best recipes of 2010.  Boy, was I wrong!  While they may have been top recipes in the NYT the very thought of eating broiled sardines, codfish fritters with lamb sausage ragu, chili lobster (Really?  Lobster, in chili?  Why?!), or celery sorbet (Now come on!), made me want to hurl.


Do people really eat this?  And by people I do include the adventurous New Yorkers who, it would seem, are willing to intrepidly devour anything in the name of fashion.  I'll never forget watching, in horror, a food program featuring a New York restaurant that served not only beetles and other insects, but live worms to its willing patrons, the latter of which were cultivated by the proprietor on his apartment balcony.  Surely, I thought, the waitstaff must be peering out of the kitchen, holding their sides with laughter, as diners who paid top dollar in an effort to be trendy, consumed items that used to get my hands slapped by my mother along with the admonish, "Put that slimy thing down!"  (I can't say I disagree.)


So, instead of planning a special meal of recipes from theTimes, I fixed myself a bowl of soul-satisfying steel cut McCann's Irish Oatmeal, and ate it while I watched the rain fall.  Drizzled with cream, studded with raisins, and topped with brown sugar, I thought that nothing could be more appealing on this wintry day.