Granola Your Way Recipe--with clusters!

This recipe for granola is a mash up from two sources.  The first is from an Epicurious article that offers a granola ratio "recipe" that gives you the basic ratios and lets you decide what ingredients to use.  The other is a recent recipe by Melissa Clark at the New York Times for how to get granola with some nice clusters in it, so that your granola doesn't seem too much like bird food.  The trick?  There are two:  use an egg white with the liquid and also take about a cup of the oats and maybe 1/2 cup of coconut and whirl them in the food processor until they're like flour. The ground oats and coconut help to form the clusters and egg white gives it all a bit of an extra crunch.

The basic granola ratio:
6 parts dry ingredients to 1 part wet, plus dried fruit

Here's what I used:
4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup honey
1 egg white
1 tablespoon vanilla extract


1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Place a piece of parchment paper on a large, rimmed cookie sheet (or two smaller ones). Parchment paper is really essential for preventing the granola from sticking!

Take about 1 cup of the oats and 1/4 cup coconut and whirl in a food processor until they're ground into a flour.  Add the ground oats and coconut to a large bowl with all of the other dry ingredients, including the cinnamon and salt. Combined the coconut oil, honey, egg white and vanilla mixing well.  Pour onto the dry ingredients and mix well with your hands to be sure all of the dry ingredients are coated well with the wet ingredients.  Spread out onto the cookie sheet and, with your hands, pinch blobs together to help ensure clusters form.

Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove and scoop/stir (being careful not to break up clumps) with a spatula to promote even browning.  Return to the oven and bake another 10 to 15 minutes, being careful not to over-brown.  When granola cools, add the raisins and toss.  Place in a well-sealed container.  Keeps for at least a week and makes about 7 cups of granola.

Homemade Honey Graham Crackers

 

So maybe making homemade Graham crackers isn't on your bucket list.  I get that!  :) But if you're a fan of Graham crackers, like I am (I often pack them to munch on at school), these lovely little biscuits are more than worth the few hours they take to make, and most of that time is unattended. They not only have a fairly short list of ingredients, but they're also really tasty. I would not, however, call them health food, though Graham crackers were originally invented to be just that.

 

According to a fascinating article in The Atlantic Monthly, Graham crackers are named for their inventor, Sylvester Graham, who may be one of America's first "health nuts." A 19th century evangelical minister, Graham fretted that the meat-rich American diet with its growing reliance on white flour fueled what he thought was its greatest health threat: sexual desire. To ward off those unhealthy desires, he advocated a plain diet of vegetables and whole grains. The original Graham cracker was a tasteless whole wheat biscuit. According to the article, some consider him to be "one of the fathers of the American vegetarian movement." And in fact, the article notes that Graham's greatest contribution to the American diet may not be Graham crackers, but breakfast cereal.  John Harvey Kellogg was a Graham disciple, who developed granola as a "Grahamite cereal."  

 

A quick look at the ingredients list on a box of 21st century Graham crackers includes "artificial flavor," soybean oil and "DATEM," a dough conditioner that staves off staleness.  This recipe for homemade honey Graham crackers skips all that stuff. I still wouldn't call them health food, though!  The recipe, with just a few tweaks from me, comes from the Good Housekeeping website.

Homemade Honey Graham Crackers

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup almond milk (or whatever kind of milk you prefer)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons honey

Whisk flours, baking soda, salt & cinnamon together and set aside. Stir milk and vanilla together and set aside.  In a mixer, beat butter, brown sugar and honey until light and fluffy, about three minutes, scraping sides as needed.  Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat well.  Scrape down bowl, add 1/2 milk mixture and beat.  Continue alternating flour and milk mixtures--ending with the final 1/3 flour mixture.  Take half of the dough, form into a disk, and roll out to 1/8th thickness between two sheets of parchment paper.  Do the same with the other half.  Place rolled dough and parchment paper onto cookie sheets and refrigerate for an hour.  Remove from the refrigerator and cut into desired shapes. (I used a fluted pizza cutter; you could use a cookie cutter or even a knife.) With a fork, prick the crackers in several places.  Return to the fridge for another 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the crackers out so that they aren't touching--they won't spread much, so they don't need to be too far apart. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, turning the pans half way through for even browning.  This recipe makes several--6 or 7--dozen crackers, depending on how big you cut the crackers. Store well sealed and they'll keep for at least a week. They'd make a great base for some desire-evoking s'mores, though don't tell Sylvester Graham!

Granola Bars--great for road trips!

The breathtaking Badlands

Robert and I just returned from a hiking trip around the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota (and the stark but mesmerizing Badlands).  These granola bars went along for the ride and provided some chewy sustenance on the ol' trail.  The original recipe comes from Alton Brown, with just a few tweaks. These are very sturdy and chewy granola bars, so it helps to cut them into small bites to get your teeth around them.  By the end of the week-long trip, the last few had been jostled into granola crumble, but they held up surprisingly well on the trail!

Granola Bars

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 cup sliced, raw almonds

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup flax meal (or wheat germ)

1/2 cup honey (I used summer honey)

1/8 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup chopped dried fruit (I used a combination of apricots and cranberries)

Oil an 8x8 baking dish and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spread the oats, almonds, coconut and flaxmeal on a cookie sheet and toast for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice.  Combine the honey and brown sugar, butter, vanilla and salt in a sauce pan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Remove the oats et al.  from the oven and reduce temperature to 300 degrees.  Place oats et al. in a bowl and immediately add the honey mixture along with the dried fruit.  Toss to combine very well.  Pour mixture into the oiled baking dish, and use a cup to press it firmly and evenly down.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Cool completely and cut into 1-inch bars. 

Buffalo at Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

From the top of Rankin Ridge Trail,
Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

Honey-n-Halloween Popcorn Treats!

Here's a bevy of honey popcorn snacks--some sweeter than others!

HONEYED POPCORN (with variations!)
Of the three recipes in this post, this one is the least sweet, has the fewest calories, and is easiest to make.  It's a little like kettle corn--just a kiss of sweet saltiness, which makes it a great snack.  The finished product can be a bit sticky, so it's wise to serve this with lots of napkins (or even individual bowls for each nosher).  If this is the only snack you're serving, this recipe makes enough for about two people.  If you're serving other snacks, this amount should satisfy four eaters. The recipe is easily doubled.

8 cups air-popped pop corn, freshly popped (about 1/2 cup unpopped)
2 tablespoons butter
2-3 tablespoons honey (amber summer honey works well here)
kosher salt for sprinkling on top

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the honey, mixing well.  As soon as the popcorn finishes popping, pour on the butter/honey mixture and toss well.  Sprinkle on kosher salt to taste.  Serve immediately!

Variations:

• To emphasize the sweetness, add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract when you melt the butter.
• For a more savory dish, sprinkle on 1/4 teaspoon cumin or paprika when you add the salt.
• Add 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese when you add the salt.
• Try toasting 1-2 tablespoons sesame seeds and sprinkling them on when you add the salt.

POPCORN BALLS

This recipe requires a candy thermometer; you want the honey/molasses mixture to reach the "hard crack" stage so that will harden and keep the popcorn ball together.

8 cups freshly popped popcorn (about 1/2 cup unpopped)

1/2 cup amber summer honey

1/2 cup molasses)

1 1/2 cups butter (three sticks)

Salt to taste

Place the honey and molasses in a pan and cook until it reaches 270 degrees.  Stir in the butter and stir until it melts entirely.  Add a pinch of salt.  Slowly pour the syrup over the popcorn, stirring with a wooden spoon and being sure that all of the popcorn is coated.  Grease your hands and lightly shape the popcorn into balls and set on wax paper to harden.  Should make about 16 popcorn balls, depending on how large you make them.  

HONEY-GLAZED POPCORN

I picked this recipe up at the Western Pennsylvania Herb Society's recent bees and blooms event, held at the Fern Hollow Nature Center in Sewickley.  It's very sweet (and very good!)--much like caramel corn.

3/4 cup butter

2/3 cup honey (fall honey is particularly good with this)

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 quarts popped popcorn

1 1/2 cups roasted peanuts

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Melt the butter and stir in the honey, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Put popcorn and peanuts in a large bowl or pan.  Pour syrup over all and toss to mix well. Turn out on to two greased 15 x 10 baking pans (line them with aluminum foil for easier clean up).  Bake about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Cool completely and then break into bite-sized pieces.

Healthy--and Delicious!--Back-to-School Granola Bars: Two Versions

These two super-easy recipes are adapted from Honey for Health and Beauty, which I reviewed in a previous post (click on the link for the review).  They both are takes on granola bars.  The first is a classic, chewy-crunchy bar without flour or eggs.  The second is a bit more cookie-like, and softer but still very much in the granola bar family.  Even though the Apricot Honey Oat Bars are softer, they're a bit less sweet and so my bet is that kids will prefer the classic Honey Granola Bar recipe.

Honey Granola Bars 
(In Honey for Health and Beauty, the recipe is called "Pack-Along Snack Bars.")
This recipe is not only easy, it's also easy to adapt.  Add 1/2 a cup of raisins, currants or other chopped, dried fruits.  Use walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts or sunflowers instead of (or in addition to!) almonds.  Toss in a handful of dark chocolate chips when you pull the granola out of the oven if you want to make it extra "healthy."  :)

3 cups uncooked rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1 cup flaked coconut (I used unsweetened, but sweetened would work, too)
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup almonds (I used 1/2 cup almonds and 1/2 cup walnuts)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, combine the oats, coconut, wheat germ, nuts, cinnamon and salt.  In a separate bowl, blend oil, honey and vanilla, mixing well.  Stir honey mixture into dry ingredients and stir well to be sure the dry ingredients are thoroughly coated with the honey mixture.  Spread onto a 9x13 inch pan (no need to grease).  Bake, stirring at 10 minute, 20 minute, 25 minute and 30 minute marks for a total of 35 minutes.  Line a 10x15 inch jelly roll pan with aluminium foil and then grease the foil.  Press hot mixture into the jelly roll pan, pressing it firmly into the pan using a rolling pin.  (It will seem like the mixture won't fit at first, but does.  You also might question whether it will all hold together once it cools, but it does that, too!)  Cool and cut into squares.  Makes about 48, depending on how big you cut them.

Apricot Honey Oat Bars
You can make a super-lean version of these bars (suggestions are in parentheses).  Like the recipe above, this one is also easily adapted to ingredients you have on hand.  About 1/2 cup of nuts would be a nice addition, as would chocolate chips.  Swap out the dried apricots for another dried fruit--or use a mixture. Dried dates would be really good.  The apricot flavor dominates here, so whatever fruit you use will flavor these bars.

1/2 cup finely chopped dried apricots
1 1/2 cups uncooked rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup 2% Greek yogurt (or any plain yogurt--it's okay to use non-fat)
1 egg (or 2 egg whites), lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons butter, melted (or 3 tablespoons vegetable oil)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.  Pulse dried apricots in a food processor until finely chopped (or chop by hand).  Add the apricots, oats, wheat germ, flour, salt & cinnamon to a large bowl and toss to combine.  In a smaller separate bowl, stir the honey and yogurt together.  Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine well.  Mix in the melted butter, stirring well.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and  mix well.  Place in the prepared pan, spreading the mixture to fill in the corners and sides. Bake about 25 minutes until edges are brown and the center is firm.  Cool and cut into 2-inch squares.  Makes 15-20 bars.