Joy the Baker » granola

Toasted Almond Granola

joythebaker — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 18:42:18 +0000

I’ve been workin my way back to you, babe.

With a burning love inside.

Hey I’m workin my way back to you, babe.

And the happiness that died.

I have that song in my head.

Maybe that means I’ll want brownies and cookies again sometime soon.

Maybe I’m working my way back to my sweet tooth.

Until then… I toasted you some almonds and oats… and I took exactly three pictures of it.

You’ve made granola, right?

It’s super easy. If you haven’t… I think it’s something you should do this weekend.

Also… you might be glad to know that this is a boyfriend friendly food. Sure, they’ll act all hard and disinterested, but the empty granola bag tells a different story. Just pretend like you didn’t notice. Boys like a little privacy when it comes to how much they enjoy granola.

Toasted Almond Granola

makes 8 cups

adapted from Martha Stewart

Print this Recipe!

4 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup slivered raw almonds

1 cup whole raw almonds

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place a rack in the upper third and middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Line one large or two small baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Whisk together oats, whole almonds, slivered almonds, sweetened coconut cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt together butter, oil, honey and brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture begins to boil. Carefully whisk together so it’s well incorporated. Add the vanilla extract. Pour the warm mixture over the oat and almond mixture and toss together with a wooden spoon, ensuring that all of the oat mixture gets moistened by the sugar and oil mixture.

Spread mixture onto prepared baking sheet(s) and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, removing the oats to stir and toss on the pan twice during baking. Remove from the oven, let cool and store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Granola is delicious with milk, yogurt or over ice cream. Yum!

Gluten-Dairy-Cane Sugar-Free Homemade Granola

joythebaker — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 04:24:56 +0000

Something pretty remarkable happened. I stepped in my kitchen and baked something without flour… without milk or eggs or butter… and without sugar.

I was wide-eyed. I was nervous. This sort of thing is way out of my sugar/butter/flour comfort zone.

It turns out… I might have a new comfort zone.

… A new, delicious comfort zone free of all of the fats and flours I know and love.

I started this giant batch of everything-free granola with gluten-free oatmeal.

While oatmeal in itself is gluten-free (or at least extremely low in gluten)… actual, safe gluten-free oatmeal is made of gluten-free processing equipment.

It’s hardcore.

Since I’m going all out, I used Coconut Oil instead regular old olive oil.

My friend Tracy got me absolutely obsessed with coconut oil. It comes in a jar. It’s opaque and solid at room temperature. It’s high in fat but better for your body than butter or oil. It’s got acids that your body loves. Kinda rad. Oh! Bonus!! It tastes like sexy sexy coconut. I loooove this stuff.

I also used macadamia and cashew nut butter and honey as a binder. Crazy stupid delicious.

If you’re not feeling fancy, however… feel free to use extra-virgin olive oil and almond or peanut butter as a binder. Still delicious. To be sure.

This granola is super lovely. It has a richness from coconut oil and the macadamia nut butter feels so indulgent. It’s lightly sweetened and… completely satisfying. I served my granola over vanilla yogurt. Yes. Dairy. I’m just a rebel like that.

Gluten-Dairy-Cane Sugar-Free Homemade Granola

makes about 9 cups of granola

Print this Recipe!

6 cups gluten-free oats (old fashioned or quick cooking)

1 cup raw almonds

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup coconut oil, melted to a liquid (or substitute extra virgin olive oil)

3/4 cup macadamia nut butter (or substitute natural peanut butter)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons honey (or substitute maple syrup)

3/4 cup golden raisins (or any dried fruit you like, optional)

Place two racks in the middle and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or spray lightly with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, toss together oats, nuts and salt (leave out the raisins, we’ll toss these in after baking). In a medium bowl, gently whisk together the melted coconut oil (or evoo), nut butter and honey. Pour the oil mixture over the oats and nuts and stir well. Make sure that every bit of oats and nuts is covered in some of the oil mixture. Spread the granola mixture onto the two baking sheets from edge to edge. Bake for 15 minutes and carefully remove the pans from the oven to toss and stir the oats. This will ensure that the mixture cooks and browns evenly. Bake for another 10 minutes. Remove and stir. Repeat until mixture has cooked a total of 30 minutes and the oats are dark and golden. Allow to cool completely before tossing in golden raisins and storing in an airtight container.

Granola Bar Experiment Turned Ooey Gooey Breakfast Cereal

joythebaker — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:34:02 +0000

It all started out so beautiful and promising- with diced dried fruit, wholesome nuts and old-fashioned oats. I was my day away from the bakery, and I thought I’d use my kitchen to experiment with homemade granola bars. I seem to have trouble eating normally, standing on my feet all day, working in front of a mixing bowl. I notice that I’ll turn occasional bites of dough into a meal. To help solve my intake dilemma, I thought I’d make granola bars to have on hand when hunger strikes but break time does not.I had the greatest of intentions, and the stickiest of results.

Granola bars are simply the goodness of oats, fruit and nuts in convenient bar form. My granola was a hands down winner in the wholesome goodness department, but a total failure in the bar department.

When my pressed granola had baked and cooled and it seemed like slicing time, that’s when my cookie (granola bar) crumbled. It didn’t want to hold it’s bar shape at all. It wasn’t even thinking about it. When I gave up the fight and mounded the cooked granola up on a plate, I noticed that it looked almost exactly the same after it was cooked as it did before I popped it in the oven. Hmm….. not good. But still a deliciously edible treat.

The above picture is the granola mixed with warm honey syrup ready to be pressed in the pan and put in the oven. The picture below is the failed bars turned delicious breakfast cereal.

Thank goodness some mistakes are still mouth watering!

I’m debating whether or not I should give you the recipe. This obviously wasn’t the keenest granola bar recipe. As a granola, while it was still gloriously edible, it was really sticky from the honey. This made is slightly hard to store, because it’s kinda one big sticky mess.

Do you have a good granola or granola bar recipe I should try? I need a little help with this one.