Good stuff!

I ran a test on Twitter last week that pretty much confirmed what I thought was true. I sent out a quick Tweet asking for people to send me their favorite granola ingredients. Here’s a quick sampling of the dozen or so responses I got:

- @jessicabair: Honey & Blueberries
– @lowrha: Maple syrup, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, and dried strawberries.
– @gardenvarieties: coconut, dried fig & apricot, pecans.
– @outlawdiva: Sesame seeds, oats, flax seeds, walnuts, cashews, raisins (all colors), currants, honey, maple syrup.
– @onmaggiesfarm: Maple syrup, almonds, unsweetened coconut. I mix up the flavor with spices: cardamom, nutmeg, ginger.
– @melissamauk: Applesauce, pepitas, brown rice syrup and oats.

Honestly, it was probably my most responded to tweet ever. People have opinions about granola and all their opinions are different!

So I called my theory confirmed… my theory, of course, being that you can put almost anything in granola.

Because of this, it’s the perfect way to clean out your pantry and use up extra nuts, spices, and fruits. So let’s make some!

Kitchen Sink Granola

Yield: 9-10 Cups

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

6 Cups rolled oats
2 Cups of any nuts that you have on hand (I used peanuts, almonds, and pecans)
1 Cup Sweetener (maple syrup, honey, agave, rice syrup, etc)
1-2 Cups dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, cherries, etc)
1 Teaspoon cinnamon (always a good idea)
1 Teaspoon salt (necessary)
Up two 2 Teaspoons of other spices (cardamom, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, etc.)
Various seeds (poppy seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds...)
Up to 2 Teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1) Grind any whole spices you are using and roughly chop nuts.

2) Add spices, seeds, and nuts to oats and mix well to combine.

3) Add sweetener to mixture and stir well.

4) Spread granola out onto two baking sheets. Make sure there is an even layer on both sheets.

5) Bake granola at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 3-5 minutes. Keep a really close eye on it.

6) Remove granola once it's golden brown and let it cool for a few minutes.

7) Add dried fruit to granola and let it cool completely.

8) Stir in a large plastic bag and serve with yogurt or milk.

Cleaning house

This might surprise you, but I have a pretty ridiculous pantry on any given day. Because I make a very wide range of dishes here on Macheesmo, I have a drawer full of almost any spice you could want, a full inventory of nuts and seeds, various dried fruits, and a ton of other random stuff.

And sometimes, I need to clean house. This is the perfect recipe for such a task. Out of all the things in my kitchen sink granola, I only bought two items: Oats and agave syrup. I had honey and maple syrup in my pantry also, but I wanted to try agave so I picked some up.

So I encourage you to use what you have for this recipe and not copy me exactly. It’ll be good. Trust me.

Go crazy.

The Method

While it isn’t really all that important what you put in your granola, it is important how you make it. You’re shooting for a nice crunchy granola that’s toasted, but not burned. It’s a very fine line.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, I needed to grind up some whole spices. If you have them, use them, otherwise don’t. I wouldn’t buy new spices just for this recipe frankly.

All are pretty optional.

Mix your oats with all the spices and seeds very well. I had a spice attack for this version!

Get it?

The Agave

I’ve never used agave syrup before and it’s becoming the talk of the town so I figured I’d jump on the bandwagon.

Since agave is the same stuff that Tequila is made from, I was pretty sure this syrup would make me puke and blackout, but it did nothing of the sort. Probably because it doesn’t have alcohol in it, but still. I was worried.

Really the only purchase I made...

In actuality, it’s a really good syrup. It has a very unique flavor and it isn’t quite as sweet as honey. I think it worked great for granola.

Once I had all my spices, nuts, and seeds mixed in with my oats, I added my agave and stirred it all together!

The sweet stuff.

Baking the granola

Ok. The tricky part is baking this stuff. Spoon out the granola mixture onto two baking sheets and try to make sure the granola is in a pretty even layer over the sheets. This will make sure it cooks evenly.

Nice and even.

Bake this stuff at 300 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Stir it every few minutes, five at the most. This is really important because the edges will cook slightly faster than the center and if you don’t stir it often, you’ll end up with burned edges.

As it gets closer to being done, check it very frequently, every three minutes or so. You definitely don’t want to burn the stuff, but you do want it to be golden brown. It’s a bit tricky, but as long as you keep an eye on it, you should be okay.

In short, this is not a recipe where you can walk away from the kitchen and do something else for 30 minutes and expect to come back to anything edible.

But if you keep an eye on it and stir it frequently, you’ll be well rewarded with some beautiful granola.

Careful not to burn it!

The Fruits

Once your granola comes out of the oven, let it cool for 5-10 minutes and then toss in any dried fruit that you want to add to it. Again, I added some dried cherries and cranberries because that’s what I had on hand.

Some dried fruit.

Once the granola is cooled completely you can store it in a large freezer bag.

This stuff will keep for weeks without a problem.

It blends in pretty well actually!

I like to eat mine with milk, but Betsy likes hers with yogurt.

It also happens that I made granola that almost exactly matches the counters in my kitchen.

Am I right or what?

I like it as a cereal.

If your pantries are looking slightly overrun these days or if you’re just sick of your normal breakfasts, this is a really good way to use stuff up and change stuff up!

So, I have to ask. What’s your favorite granola ingredients? Leave a comment!

When a baked apple is done right, it is pretty heavenly. I mean, come on:

Breakfast!

As I see it there are only two problems you can run into in the baked apple world: 1) You used the wrong kind of apple. That’s pretty easy to avoid though. Golden Delicious bake up really nicely. Or you can check out this chart for other good varieties.

Problem number two is that you cook them too long. The apple should be soft, but not mushy. You should be able to easily cut it with a butter knife (in my opinion), but it should be almost melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Master those two (pretty simple problems) and you’ll end up with a great result.

I like to stuff mine with something that has some texture which is why I used granola. You could use rolled oats if you wanted or any kind of nut really. Go crazy with it!

Baked Breakfast Apples

Yield: Serves 2.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Good baking apples, again, the chart.
1/3 Cup granola
1/4 Cup brown sugar
1/4 Teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 Teaspoons butter, divided
Optional spices: nutmeg, allspice, etc.

Helpful Equipment:
Apple Corer

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Core the apples with an apple corer or a paring knife and a spoon. Cut a good sized whole in the stem side of the apple.

3) Take a spoon and scrape out the bottom and edges until there are no seeds left in the apple.

4) Mix up all the filling in a large bowl (every ingredient expect the butter and apples) including cinnamon.

5) Set the stuffed apples in a baking dish with about a cup of water. Also add a teaspoon (about) of butter on top of each apple.

6) Bake for 30 minutes.

7) Let cool for five minutes, then slice into them.

Before you get started, preheat that oven to 350 degrees.

Coring the apples

An apple corer is one of those tools that I’ve never acquired because I would only use it like once a year. Ok. If I had one, I would definitely use it more than that. But in any event, I just use a paring knife and a spoon and it works great.

If you’re using a corer, just be sure not to cut all the way through your apple or else your filling will all melt out! That’s not so much of a worry if you use a paring knife/spoon combo. Just cut a good sized whole in the stem side of the apple like so.

Who needs a corer?

And then get your spoon and scrape out the bottom and edges until there are no seeds left in the apple. It takes like 30 seconds per apple. No big deal people.

Mixing the filling

Mix up all your filling in a large bowl (every ingredient expect the butter and apples)! I loved the granola. It had a great texture coupled with the soft apple.

You could use store bought granola... I guess.

Oh. And don’t forget your cinnamon!

Don't forget the spices Dude.

You can really stuff these guys pretty full. I used all of my filling.

These can hold a surprising amount of stuffing.

Cooking the apples

Set your stuffed apples in a baking dish with about a cup of water. Also add a teaspoon (about) of butter on top of each apple.

This is extremely important! Because as the butter melts it makes kind of a delicious caramel sauce with the brown sugar on the inside.

Oh no I didn't! Oh yes I did!

Then bake them for 30 minutes, and then you’ll have these wonderfully tender and fragrant apples.

After 30 long minutes.

Whatever you do, resist eating this right away unless second degree burns in your mouth is your idea of a good start to the day.

After five minutes though, you can slice into them. The butter will be melted in with the granola and brown sugar and the apple will be tender, but not mush. It’s really good stuff.

So good.

So I’ll be honest. Betsy and I actually had these for dessert one night. But I don’t see the problem with eating it for breakfast. If you served it with ice cream then the ice cream would melt and it would basically be like eating cereal.

Am I wrong?

Am I?!

Ok. Sorry. Back to reality. I’ve been itching to make granola bars for a few weeks now and finally did it last weekend. Turns out that once you have the basics down for homemade granola, it’s pretty easy to make granola bars. Shocking I know.

I was in a peanut butter mood so I used that as a base flavor for the whole thing.

Better than store bought. No doubt.

So there are two basic parts to this recipe: First, make granola. Second, make granola bars. Luckily both steps are really easy and this recipe makes about 12-14 granola bars which are great to have on hand throughout the week.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Yield: 8x8 baking dish.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour + cooling time

Ingredients:

3 Cups rolled oats (can't use the instant stuff)
1 Cups various seeds and nuts (I used 2/3 Cups sunflower seeds, almonds, and cashews for this version)
1/2 Cup dried fruit (cranberries, cherries, etc)
1/2 Tablespoon cocoa powder (optional)
1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Peanut Butter
Pinch of salt

Granola Bars:
The above granola recipe
3/4 Cup honey
1/2 Cup peanut butter
1/2 Cup Brown sugar
1/4 Cup neutral oil (grapeseed or corn works well)

Directions:

1) Roughly chop nuts and seeds and add them to oats. Add cinnamon and cocoa powder and a pinch of salt.

2) After the oats, nuts, seeds and seasonings are combined, stir together the honey and peanut butter in a separate bowl.

3) Pour that mixture into granola and stir really well to combine. Make sure everything is really evenly distributed. Spread out the mixture onto a rimmed baking sheet.

4) Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes and stir them every 5 minutes.

5) After the granola has turned a nice brown color it is done! Pull it out and let it cool.

6) Add dried fruit.

7) For bars, mix all the ingredients except the granola in a medium saucepan and put it over medium heat. Stir it just until it starts to bubble and all of the ingredients are melted.

8) Pour it straight over the granola! Mix this up well again.

9) Pack it into a square baking dish. Push down on it with a spatula to even it out and compress the oats

10) Stick this in the fridge for at least 2 hours and then you can slice it up!

11) If the granola is really hard, you can let it sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes and it will soften up a bit.

Adapted from How to Cook Everything.

The benefits of a full pantry.

What’s kind of nice about keeping a well-stocked pantry is it very frequently pays what I like to call pantry dividends. This recipe is a case in point. For me, all I had to do for this recipe was buy dried cranberries. I had every other ingredient needed.

Making the granola

Granola is really simple to make and you are completely missing out if your buying the store bought stuff. It’s just so awesome to be able to customize it to whatever tastes you want.

To make it, roughly chop your nuts and seeds if necessary and add them to your oats.

Nuts and oats.

Next add your cinnamon and cocoa powder if your using them and a pinch of salt.

Please note the below photo where I made the mistake of adding my dried fruit. You aren’t supposed to add that until after you bake the granola. That’s what I get for trying to make granola, take photos, and yell at the Washington Redskins all at the same time.

A mild mistake.

After your oats, nuts, seeds and seasonings are combined, stir together your honey and peanut butter in a separate bowl.

Resist eating it like a soup.

I could just eat this with a spoon.

Then pour that mixture into your granola and stir really well to combine. Make sure everything is really evenly distributed.

Then spread out the mixture on two rimmed baking sheets.

Looks like oatmeal, smells like peanut butter.

Cooking the granola

Cook these sheets at 350 for about 30 minutes and stir them every 5 minutes. If you don’t stir them every few minutes, the peanut butter will burn and that would be very sad.

After your granola has turned a nice brown color it is done! Pull it out and let it cool. NOW you can add your dried fruit. If you are like me and you happen to mess that up, it’s okay. Just be sure to stir everything well while it’s cooking. You run the extra danger of the dried fruit burning.

Mine turned out fine though even with my mess up.

Keep an eye on this stuff.

Making Bars

The only thing you need to make bars now is a light syrup that will hold all of that delicious granola together. You can also take this as an opportunity to add even more peanut butter flavor to the party.

Mix all the ingredients except the granola in a medium saucepan and put it over medium heat. Stir it just until it starts to bubble and all of the ingredients are melted.

Then pour it straight over your granola!

The Gooey stuff.

Mix this up well again. It will be more gooey than the first batch. Pack it into a square baking dish. Push down on it with a spatula to even it out and compress the oats. Just light pressure will do. No need to show off the guns or anything.

Press it into a pan.

Stick this in your fridge for at least 2 hours and then you can slice it up!

If the granola is really hard, you can let it sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes and it will soften up a bit.

Very tasty.

You can keep these in the fridge for a week or two without a problem. When I first take one of these bars out of the fridge, it’s rock hard. But after about 10 minutes it is softer but still crunchy. Just like I like them!

And the peanut butter flavor is great. It’s amazing how just a little bit of peanut butter can really flavor a lot of food.

You may note that I only used half of the granola for the bars. You can save the other half in a sealed plastic bag to either make more bars or just eat like cereal.

This is the kind of thing that I really believe is so easy to integrate into your weekly or monthly schedule and I think you’ll be absolutely shocked at how much crunchier, tastier, and healthier they are than 99% of the ones you buy in the store. Give it a shot sometime!

The next morning I was looking for something quick to make because, after all, I had a kitten to play with all day. I also happened to have a few cups of granola left over from the last batch of homemade granola I mixed up.

Add some vanilla yogurt and these were an obvious choice:

It's all in the levels.

Parfaits are fantastic. They are pretty, easy, and healthy. What more could you want in a breakfast meal?! I like to get the tallest glasses I can find and make as many levels as possible, but you could just do one level of each ingredient if you wanted.

I probably don't need to give step by step photos for these...

Berries. Yogurt. Granola. Repeat. That’s it! I use vanilla yogurt which has plenty of sweetness. If you only have original, you can of course use that. If you want to make it sweeter, just mix in a bit of honey before you layer it.

You get the idea. I'm going to stop now.

Ultimately, I think what makes a good parfait is the granola. I’m such a huge proponent of homemade granola. I make a huge batch at a time about once a month and it keeps really well.

While some of the ingredients are a bit pricey, I’ve ran the numbers and it is definitely cheaper to make it yourself. Plus you can customize it to your tastes so it is really the best of both worlds.

Homemade granola.

These ended up being much larger than I was thinking.

These could be breakfast for two days.

I ate mine just barely and Betsy saved half of hers for breakfast the next day. Once they are made, you can chill them in the fridge for a day or two without a problem. The granola might lose a bit of its crunch, but it will still be tasty.

From up top.

These gave us plenty of energy to make it most of the day playing with the new cat. I feel like it added a month or two onto my life.

I try very hard to post breakfast/brunch dishes on Saturdays. You can be sure not to miss them by getting Macheesmo updates for free via RSS or your email.

Turns out I was right:

You have to make this if you are a granola fan.

After doing some research and looking at MANY different recipes, I realized that granola is kind of like one of those “Make-a-bear” workshops. I’ve never actually been in one of those shops but I think I get the general idea. You go in and pick out your teddy bear, your outfit, and your characteristics with the goal of giving the drab old teddy bear some personality. You get to make it “yours”. Genius marketing if you ask me.

Granola is very similar. There are dozens of variations and probably hundreds of additions that you can use to give it some personal flare. You can go on the cheap with some basic rolled oats, honey, and cinnamon, or you can get extremely luxurious.

I chose somewhere in the middle, but still started with plain old rolled oats.

Rollin' with the oats.

I used Mark Bittman’s recipe from this book because I trust him. I made a few alterations, but kept the proportions the same.

Homemade Granola
- 6 cups rolled oats
- 2 cups various nuts/seeds. I used 1/2 cup of each of the following: Sunflower seeds, flax seeds, chopped cashews, sliced almonds.
- 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 Teaspoon Ghirardelli’s cocao powder (my addition)
- 1 cup honey. I probably did closer to 1 1/8 cups. Adjust according to your tastes.
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 1 cup dried cranberries

These are a great addition to anything.

Add all of your nuts and seeds to your rolled oats and mix it up really well. Some other options you could use include walnuts, pecans, peanuts, hazelnuts, Macadamias, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, pistachios, and on and on and on.

Don’t add more than two or two and a half cups of this stuff though or they will overpower the granola.

This bowl just got way healthy.

Then put in whatever spices you would like along with your sticky stuff. I chose cinnamon, coca powder, and honey. Again though, there are tons of options: anise, vanilla, allspice, nutmeg, poppy seed, maple syrup, or molasses just to name a few possibilities.

Again though, don’t over do it. I would choose two or maybe three spice additions and a base. If you add to many then it starts to taste like nothing at all. Choose wisely, young backpacker.

Honey makes oats into granola.

Now for really the only hard part of this recipe: stirring. This stuff will be pretty thick and you want to make sure that all of your honey and spice is evenly distributed. Stir it for a few minutes to make sure it is well-combined. Don’t worry, dude, you can’t over-stir granola.

Then pour out your mixture onto a baking sheet and spread it out to form one even layer. If you use the above recipe you will either need two baking sheets or to do it in batches. It’s a lot.

Miles and miles of granola.

You want to cook this at 350 for somewhere between 25-30 minutes. My first tray I cooked for 30 minutes and it was borderline burnt. My second tray I cooked for 27 minutes and it was spot on perfect. I think this varies depending on oven and ingredients you use.

I would start watching it pretty closely after 25 minutes. The last thing you want to do is burn a whole batch of this stuff!

Once it is done pull it out but leave it on your baking sheets to cool. Then sprinkle on all of your dried fruit or half of it if you are working it batches. It is semi-important to add the fruit while the granola is still hot so the flavors start to blend.

Then let it cool completely and store it in an airtight container. The stuff will last for a very long time which is good because it makes a bunch.

This recipe makes like 40 of these.

One reason why I like this recipe oh so much is because granola is expensive. In DC, one 13 ounce box of granola in the store costs $4.19. This entire recipe costs me $18 and made the equivalent 3.5 boxes of granola. While the cost appears to be more for the homemade version, I have nuts, seeds, and dried fruit left over to make a second batch if I wanted to. All I would need is the oats which run about $1.30/lb.

I had a bowl of this for breakfast this morning and I must say that it was very delicious. Maybe there’s something to this granola craze after all.

If you know any hippies or wilderness wanderers you might want to use the below links to share this with them.