Tag: granola

Winter Granola

Published on by VirginiaLeave a comment

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I rarely eat a hot breakfast, even in the winter.  Those are kept for special occasions.  The times the table is full of family and loved ones.  Most mornings (confession), I spend eating breakfast while I am getting ready to head out the door or eating while I sit down to begin the work of the day.  Either way, it is usually something that requires little more than putting things together in a bowl.  Granola is a perfect example of that.  Hence, it is pretty much a staple in my mind.  Keeping a bag in the freezer at all times just seems like a good idea.  Plus, cereal and granola have always been a favorite dessert or post dinner late night snack.

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Winter seems to me to be the best time for granola.  When no other fruit, besides the obvious citrus family, is fresh and in season, bananas are my staple.  And what better accompaniment to a banana then granola and yogurt.

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This recipe is dairy free and could easily be gluten free by substituting or omitting as necessary.

Winter Granola

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups oats
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
  • 1/3 cup chia seed
  • 1/3 cup flax seed
  • 1/3 cup buckwheat groats
  • 1/4 cup sucanat
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil, plus extra for baking sheet
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 Tbs coconut milk

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The directions here are the same for every granola I make (see here and here).

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil rimmed baking sheet with extra coconut oil.  Combine oats, pumpkin seeds, coconut, chia seed, flax seed, buckwheat groats, sucanat, spices and salt in a large bowl.   Set aside.  In a small saucepan over low heat, whisk together honey, oil, milk, and vanilla until mixture is completely melted and combined.  Pour over oat mixture and coat well.   Spread out on baking sheet.  Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring often.  Let cool on baking sheet on wire rack for 1 ½ hours undisturbed.  Break up and store.  (I like to keep it in the freezer.)  Makes over 5 cups.

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Ginger Please (Ginger Granola Recipe)

Published on by Virginia1 Comment

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God, food, family, and travel.  Those are the things I want in life.  The things that I am passionate about and love dearly.  They are why I do what I do.  But lately I have all these feelings and thoughts swirling around inside me and I cannot seem to get my hold on them.  If what I am doing is the best.  If I should be doing something else.  If it is time for something new.  Or for something old.  I tend to question those things.  Constantly.  Mornings like this morning rock me.  To stir those doubts and cause me to look back and look forward and to feel unsettled.

But those questions won’t be answered today.  Today I will focus on sharing my latest granola recipe (and latest addiction).  Pretty much you can expect to find a steady supply of this in my house.  I go through phases but right now I am not even tempted to make any other granola.

Hands down, ginger. Every time.  Everything and anything with ginger.  Like the ginger sausage at Austin’s Elizabeth Street Cafe or the Pimms Cup at Holland House in Nashville.  So, when we were in England and I had ginger granola for the very first time, I could not contain myself.  All I wanted was to go home to my kitchen and whip up my own version.  And that is exactly what I did.  Ginger Coconut Granola to be exact.

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Ginger Coconut Granola: 

Ingredients:

  • 3 cup oats
  • 1 1/2 cup shaved coconut, unsweetened
  • 1 cup buckwheat
  • 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 cup fresh ginger, minced
  • 2 Tbs pumpkin seeds
  • 2 Tbs chia seeds
  • 1/4 cup succanat
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil, plus extra for baking sheet
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 Tbs whole milk

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil rimmed baking sheet with extra coconut oil.  Combine oats, coconut, buckwheat, pecans, ginger, ground ginger, pumpkin seeds, chia seed, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.   Set aside.  In a small saucepan over low heat, whisk together honey, oil, milk, and vanilla until mixture is completely melted and combined.  Pour over oat mixture and coat well.   Spread out on baking sheet.  Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring often.  Let cool on baking sheet on wire rack for 1 ½ hours undisturbed.  Break up and store.  (I like to keep it in the freezer.)  Makes a little over 4 cups.

 

Want other granola recipes?  Check out the previous one here.

 

Pantry Granola

Published on by Virginia2 Comments

I have been mulling over the thought of granola for days.  A silly thing to be thinking about really.  The notion to make some came into my head and it lingered, gently, until the urge really hit me.  Obviously I should have known it was going to.  I should have been better prepared.  I picked up some oats earlier in the day (just in case I needed them some time soon).  Oats are not something I typically pick up just in case.  Cheese, nuts, seeds, coconut, olives, lentils, chickpeas.  Those are the kinds of things I pick up just in case.

9 pm hit  and an hour drive from any sort of organic/natural grocery store (and I had already been to two earlier in the day).  But I was in the mood to forget the taxes that needed to be paid and my list of things that needed to be done that night and escape by cooking, baking, making…particularly granola. However, I did not have two of my favorite ingredients: hazelnuts and shaved coconut. Nor did I have nuts of any kind or any form of coconut for that matter.  Two essentials for granola in my opinion.  My pantry shelf is pretty much at its bare minimal.  Mostly spices and different forms of sugar.  And oils.  And vinegars.  But there was just enough.  Enough to mix together and make a rather good base.  Toasted coconut and nuts can always be added at a later time.  When actually using the granola to top fruit or yogurt or however I deem to eat it at that moment.

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This is an adaptation of an adaptation.   My go to granola was originally adapted from one of my good friend’s recipes and is an excellent base for whatever you would want to add.  Whatever flavors you prefer in your granola.  Hmm…if I had been thinking I might have tried throwing in some rosemary.  But I wasn’t thinking.  My brain was wanting something brainless.  Something that I did not have to concentrate on.  I didn’t want to think.  I just wanted to get lost in the making.  In the measuring and stirring and the ease of making something by rote memory.  I wasn’t wanting to create.  To experiment.  I wanted guaranteed success.  I wanted familiar.  Something I knew.

Since, I didn’t have my typical ingredients for granola, I used what I had.  What was in the pantry and the fridge.  Hazelnut flour to give the hardy flavor of nuts and add protein.  Coconut palm sugar to give a depth of flavor.  A malty caramel flavor, but not as deep as sucanat.  (Which apparently, coconut palm sugar has a low glycemic index, which means it is metabolized slower.  It is an unrefined sugar and a good alternative for baking, using a 1:1 ratio instead of brown sugar.)  I used the last bit of flax seeds and chia seeds I had, so the 1/3 cup was really just because I did not have anything to put in their place. I would reduce their measurements to a couple tablespoons of each, if you add any other ingredients.  Add nuts, coconut, dried fruit, chocolate, seeds.  The possibilities are endless.  (I usually add a cup each depending on what it is and how many additional ingredients. But adjust accordingly.)

Pantry Granola

  • 4 cups oats
  • 1 cup hazelnut flour
  • 1/3 cup flax seed
  • 1/3 cup chia seed
  • 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
  • 1 Tbs cinnamon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil (+ a little extra for the baking sheet)
  • 2 Tbs whole milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly oil rimmed baking sheet.  Combine oats, flour, flax seed, chia seed, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in bowl.   Set aside.  In a small saucepan over low heat, stir honey, oil, milk, and vanilla until mixture fizzes and just begins to simmer.  Pour over oat mixture and coat well.   Spread out on baking sheet.  Bake for 25 minutes until lightly browned, stirring often.  Let cool on baking sheet on wire rack for 1 ½ hours undisturbed.  Break up and store.  (I like to keep it in the freezer.)  Makes a little over 4 cups.