I love granola. I make it all the time, because I love it so much. I eat it by the handful whenever I pass the cupboard. It doesn’t have any calories, if you eat it in small amounts. Derek loves it too, and since I don’t like to buy boxed breakfast cereals, it comes in handy whenever I don’t want to make hot breakfast. Which is only about 6 days out of 7, so not that often. So I’ve tried lots of recipes from books and internet, and I’ve mixed up some of the elements (no, Katie, not those elements) to fit my own taste. I’ll admit freely that I have an incurable addiction to the C12H22O11 group, namely: sucrose, fructose, glucose, lactose, maltose, galactose, mannose. So this granola might be a touch too sweet, if you’re a normal human, and not one that shares DNA with me or Derek. If you’re related to one or both of us, you will love it.
Here’s the recipe for the version I made today:
Almond Cranberry Granola
6 C regular rolled oats
1/3 C oat bran
3/4 C chopped raw almonds
2 1/2 t cinnamon
2/3 C pure maple syrup if you’re like me, 1/2 C if you’re normal (NOT pancake syrup!!!)
1/4 C fresh almond butter
2 T canola oil
2 T molasses
1/4 t pure vanilla extract (please don’t use the fake stuff. Just leave it out if you don’t have real vanilla. You don’t want your granola tasting like plastic.)
pinch salt (leave out the salt if you leave out the vanilla)
3/4 C dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 350o. Spray a large rimmed cookie sheet with oil. In a large bowl, combine oats, oat bran, almonds, and cinnamon. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine maple syrup, almond butter, oil, molasses, vanilla, and salt. Mix well with a fork or whisk. Pour into dry ingredients and mix well. Spread evenly on baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring every 7 minutes to prevent burning the edges. Let cool completely before adding cranberries. Store in an airtight container. I never refrigerate granola because we eat it so fast it can’t go bad.
You may, of course, use any nuts you like, and any dried fruit. I will not hunt you down. I really like it with walnuts and raisins, but I don’t add the almond butter. If you don’t have almond butter and don’t feel like blending up some, just leave that out and up the amount of oil to 1/4 cup instead. You don’t have to have oil, but I find that the oats toast better with oil added. Melted butter is nice, too.
I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I would like you to note that I have just received my 1st degree black belt in Code-Fu. If you can tell me why, you are probably higher ranked than I. Derek-San is a 3rd degree black-belt for the amazing work he did with the photos and text-wrapping on yesterday’s post. I have much to learn.
If you are the praying sort, please pray for my baby girl, Kiki, who will have her cyst removed tomorrow. And pray for me, that I can keep it together during the operation. And pray for Sheila’s mom, Diane, who has had her chemo and radiation therapy postponed, due to infection that hasn’t cleared up yet.
March 14, 2007 at 2:20 pm
You are gonna be fine because that is what parents do… hold it together during, and then lose it at 2:00am a week later when it really hits you what happened/could have happened etc…
KiKi is going to be fine also… it’s a same day right? Just be prepared for a very unhappy baby coming out of the anesthesia. That’s the hardest part of all, but it usually only last a few minutes to forty five minutes tops (our experience).
March 14, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Yeah, they said it should take 15 minutes. Both my boys had a certain operation that should’ve happened at birth, but I elected no to have done. Then, when Zeeb was about 3 months, we noticed something wrong. Turns out Calvin had the same anomaly, just not quite as bad. So they had it done at 1 year and 3 1/2, respectively. So I’m “prepared” for the anesthesia part. Is this why we do pseudonyms?
March 14, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Hey yeah…. I have all girls, but I am wondering if we ever have a boy what we should do. I lean toward “no”…but ummm…. yeah. Psuedonyms!
March 15, 2007 at 1:49 pm
I have looked ever-where and kinna find the email of the Hopeful One… I’d like to give ya the HTML to link to stuff w/in a comment, but I’m afraid that it would just…. link to stuff if I give it to you IN a comment!
Let’s try…
the words you want to appear in the comment
March 15, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Yeah… see? it just links to stuff. A nonexistant URL called “put the URL here.”
I need yer email.
March 15, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Let’s try it THIS way…
word to read in the comment
March 15, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Son of a biscuit!
remove all parenthesis and go for it!
()words in comment here()
March 15, 2007 at 1:55 pm
FREAK! It would probly be easier if I actually knew HTML… send me your email STAT before my brain implodes!
March 15, 2007 at 1:57 pm
March 15, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Bwaah Haaa Haaa Pflttffttt!
March 15, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Ouch. I think I just broke a rib.
March 15, 2007 at 3:33 pm
bon dot mama at gmail dot com
March 15, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Okay am I missing something? Those last few comments really through me! Let us know how Kiki is doing. Scarey when any baby is put under.
Buster went through a lot of crazy stuff when he was 3 1/2 .
Thanks for the recipe’s. Keep inspring me to be healthy because I’m way lacking in that stuff.
March 15, 2007 at 11:03 pm
How did it go? How did it go? How’s she doing?