Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Recipe Diaries: Snapshot #192: Christmas Granola




December 22, 2010.  Orem, Utah.  Since we've been married, Dave has been requesting Christmas Granola...we finally did it.

2 comments:

  1. JanelleJanuary 3, 2011 at 4:03 PM

    That looks really yummy is it home made and if it is can we get a recipe! I love love love granola!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJanuary 4, 2011 at 12:57 PM

    Yes, the Granola is homemade. I've been searching for the perfect recipe for a couple of years now. In the past I have always made it too complicated. I tried to keep it simple this time. Here is the Recipe; a special thanks to Martha Stewart.

    Ingredients

    Makes 8 cups

    * 4 cups old-fashioned oats
    * 1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds
    * 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
    * 1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried cherries
    * 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
    * 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    * Pinch of salt
    * 1/3 cup vegetable oil
    * 1/4 cup honey
    * 1/2 cup light brown sugar
    * 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together oats, almonds, pecans, cherries, coconut, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
    2. In a small saucepan, combine oil, honey, and sugar. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Drizzle syrup over oat mixture; toss with a wooden spoon. Pour granola onto sheet pan and spread evenly. Bake, stirring occasionally, until golden (about 25 minutes). Let granola cool completely on a wire rack. Break it into chunks and store in an airtight container.
    _________________________________

    Tip: Usually when I bake the granola, I bake it and stir it and bake it and stir it and end up baking it too long and it ends up too crispy for my liking. This time was no different, I over-baked a batch or two. So to try and compensate, I left the remaining granola (about half) out on the counter over night and simply let it dry out. On the following day, I mixed the unbaked granola with the baked granola and voila! It was fabulous.

    Next time I'm going to try half-baking the entire batch and see what I think. I'm also going to try 1/2 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed, with only 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil. According to Martha Stewart: Because apple juice from frozen concentrate is thicker than bottled apple juice, it makes a better coating for the granola, helping it get crisp in the oven without requiring much oil.

    I'll let you know...

    ReplyDelete

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