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Recipes

Granola… Two Ways!

Granola Two Ways

I’m not much of a breakfast person. Sure, I love brunch – but I’m talking about breakfast. You know, the food that you have to force down your throat first thing in the morning? No? Anyway, I never used to eat breakfast until I realized I need to eat all three meals in order to survive the day. There are two things I eat regularly: breakfast pitas; and yogurt with granola.

I’m a bit of a granola and yogurt fiend. I find store-bought granola to be expensive, and full of junk.

I’ve started on the path to making my own granola, full of things I like.

Granola Two Ways - full

This time around, I wanted some variety so I made two different kinds of granola, instead of putting all of the ingredients into one big granola. It was a pretty good try, but I think I need some practise. The two kinds don’t taste different enough for me, so next time I’ll have to kick it up a bit. I also need to learn how to make better clumps of things – the smaller bits, like flax and chia, mostly fell to the bottom of the pan. It would be so much better if they stuck to some oats in clumps. I think adding some egg white to the mix will help with this.

Next time, I’ll try not to wuss out on the spices in the Spiced Pumpkin Cashew mix, and I think I’ll add some dried apricot. And maybe add some orange juice for a different flavour?

J says I’m a hippie, now that I make granola.

Recipes after the jump!

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Found Favourites, Recipes

Found Favourites: Playgroup Granola Bars

Playgroup Granola Bars

To start things off, I’d like to share a recipe from my now defunct recipe database, that I found many years ago. I’ve pretty much stuck to the original recipe, except that I use dried cranberries instead of raisins, and I often add things like quinoa flakes, hemp seeds, flax seeds, etc. to the mix.

I can’t say I’ve ever been able to cut them into 24, as the recipe suggests, but I probably make them too big.

These are yummy and filling, so go easy!

Original Source: Allrecipes.com – Playgroup Granola Bars
(actually, I first got this from someone on Live Journal, but I can’t seem to find the original recipe… It’s basically the same, except the wheatgerm wasn’t in the first one I tried.)

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup wheat germ
  • 3/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, wheat germ, cranberries (or raisins), chocolate chips and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges.

4. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be to hard to cut.

Servings: 24 (depends how you cut them)