Homemade Granola

My favorite granola with yogurt

I’d never tasted homemade granola until I was in my early twenties, when my friend Dorie gifted me with some that her mother had made. I remember opening the bag doubtfully, expecting some hard-to-chew cereal product I might be temped to feed to a horse.

Just for frame of reference, this was back in 1980-something, when granola was regarded as an outdated by-product of the seventies, right up there with crocheted plant cozies made from hemp fiber and men sporting four-inch wide sideburns.

But just like Oprah, I had an “Aha!” moment right then and there. Too bad my moment didn’t foreshadow the possibility of making my fortune selling fifteen-dollar bags of granola in fancy food stores, as I’m sure Oprah’s would have.

No, it wasn’t my instinct for making money that was awakened, but my sense of what “homemade” meant. This granola was so unlike the achingly sweet stuff I was used to eating out of a box it was like a different category of food altogether. It smelled of butter and vanilla; each grain and seed tasted fresh and toasted. There were sesame seeds in there, I remember, and nice crunchy clumps of oats. I ate it all and then wanted more.

I begged Dorie to ask her mom for the recipe, but she never delivered it. Apparently that granola was a closely guarded family recipe. What is it with people and their secret recipes? I've never understood the urge to protect a recipe. Why not share the love?

I went on a search mission to replicate the granola recipe. I came close with one batch from Marion Cunningham’s The Breakfast Book, but it wasn’t quite the same. I finally settled on the formula below, which is based on one that I think came from an issue of Gourmet magazine circa 1990 or so (since all I have is the an index card, I can’t be sure).

This recipe makes a good-sized batch of granola; you can keep it in a covered container for two weeks or so, or be generous and give some to friends - and don’t forget to pass along the recipe.

And if Dorie is out there, I'd still love to know your mom's secret!

Granola

4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup unsweetened dried coconut
1 cup whole almonds
1 cup of your choice hulled raw pumpkin seeds or raw cashews
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup raw wheat germ
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/3 cup melted butter or vegetable oil

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, layer all ingredients through wheat germ in order given. Pour maple syrup over mixture and stir upward from the bottom, taking care to coat the almonds. Add the vanilla, salt and butter and stir once more to combine well.

Spread the granola in an even layer on a large rimmed sheet pan, or 2 smaller rimmed pans.
Bake 15 minutes; stir granola and bake 10 minutes more or until mixture is golden and almonds are toasted.

Other FamilyStyle Favorites to try:

Homemade Vanilla Extract
Best Buttermilk Pancakes
Whole Grain Pancakes with Roasted Pears

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Copyright (c) 2008 FamilyStyle Food

Gluten-Free Almond Waffles

A waffle for everyone

We invited some friends over for brunch over the weekend who are fish-eating vegetarians with a child who has Celiac disease and is on a gluten-free diet. My husband T doesn’t eat any dairy products, and my own kids want nothing but pancakes and bacon for breakfast on Sunday mornings.

What to do? Trying to find the perfect menu on occasions like this is challenging, to say the least.

But I take it on with relish (no, not the kind with pickles). Figuring out the right formula of foods that will please everyone can be like solving an intricate puzzle, kind of like completing the Sunday New York Times crossword. Not that I ever attempt crosswords; my own problem-solving skills come directly from the right side of my brain.

I felt satisfied with my choice to make Belgian waffles, because everyone likes them, but I needed to make them acceptable to those avoiding wheat and dairy.

Because I’m now in the business of cooking for people, (look at my new DinnerStyle website!) catering to each of their personal dietary needs, restrictions and desires is also my business. So I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to test a recipe for gluten-free, dairy-free waffles.

Fellow blogger Sheltie Girl at Gluten A Go Go recently posted a recipe for hazelnut waffles that looked delicious – I decided to give them a whirl.

I ended up playing with the recipe quite a bit (which always manages to drive T a little crazy – he’s a left-brained instruction-follower sort of guy), because I didn’t have exactly the ingredients that Sheltie Girl calls for in her recipe.

There was a spine-tingling moment just minutes before our guests arrived when I thought the experiment was a dud – I was this close to sending T out for bagels, but the batter came together and baked up into big, beautiful waffles with a crisp outside and tender inside. Success!

I served them with warm maple syrup and a big bowl of fresh fruit.

Gluten-Free Almond Waffles

Makes about 6 Belgian-style waffles

2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour ( I used Bob’s Red Mill brand)
1/2 cup almond flour or meal
1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups unsweetened soy milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract


Heat waffle iron to medium-high and spray with nonstick spray if necessary.

Mix flours, flaxseed, baking powder, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Stir in the egg yolks, soy milk, oil and extracts and whisk until smooth. Let batter stand 5 minutes to allow flaxseed to gel.

Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer or with the whisk attachment of an immersion blender (my favorite method for beating small amounts of egg whites) until soft peaks form; fold egg whites evenly into batter.

Pour batter onto waffle iron and bake about 5 minutes, or until steaming stops. Remove waffle carefully and transfer to a baking sheet in a 200-degree oven to keep warm.

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Toasted Almond Button Cookies

The one-bite cookie

I saw this Holiday Cookie Guide in the Washington Post the other day and was totally impressed. I loved the clean, crisp look of the layout as well as the subject - 26 cookie recipes each with their own simple, appealing photo.

But, I did what I always do when browsing for cookie recipes; I skipped right over those that required rolling, cutting or decorating. I have something resembling a small panic attack, probably much like the one that some people get when they attempt to make pie pastry – it’s a combination of fear (of sticky, messy dough) and impatience (with anything requiring fussing with).

My kids still love me, I think. But I imagine they would love me more if I would make some decorated gingerbread people to hang from the tree. Maybe I’ll look into a 12-step program to move me through the process of my cookie dough anxiety.

In the meantime, these cute almond cookie buttons called out to me. They’re require nothing more complicated than the easy pinch and roll method, you can make the dough up to 5 days ahead and they contain lots of ground, toasted almonds. I love toasted almonds!

When I make these again, I'll use hazelnuts instead, and top them with some warm chocolate-hazelnut spread, like Nutella.

I was invited to a cookie swap at my friend Alanna’s and had to make 10 dozen cookies to share. How convenient for me. I made them.

I’m kind of on a cookie bender right now, so bear with me for a bit. This week I’ll be sharing some of my all-time favorite cookie recipes (no rolling required, promise).

Toasted Almond Buttons
makes about 60 cookies

from the Washington Post

• 2 cups whole, skin-on almonds, toasted (see NOTE)
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) plus 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Finely grind 1 cup of the almonds in a food processor or blender and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt. Use your hands to thoroughly work in 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) of the butter and the vanilla and almond extracts until a soft dough forms (it should not crumble).

Transfer to a resealable plastic food storage bag and refrigerate until well chilled (at least 20 minutes) or up to 5 days. Use the palms of your hands to roll the dough into 1/2-inch balls. Place on the baking sheets; spray the back of a small-size melon baller with nonstick cooking oil spray and use it to indent the top of each ball, holding the edges of the dough together as you work (if the edges crack, blend them back together).

Bake 1 sheet at a time for about 15 minutes, until the cookies begin to brown. Transfer them carefully to a wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile, place the chocolate and the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in a small metal mixing bowl and suspend the bowl over a saucepan containing an inch or two of very hot water over medium heat. When the chocolate and butter have melted, stir to combine. Use a spoon to drizzle a small amount of chocolate into the indentation of each cookie. Top each with one of the remaining whole almonds. Let set completely before storing.

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Black Raspberry Birthday Cakes

I felt Farmer's Market Greed during our Saturday morning trip to the Tower Grove Farmer's Market. I was in line waiting - relatively patiently, I might add, despite the fact that my eyeballs were starting to sweat and it wasn't yet 9 a.m. - to purchase a few baskets of fresh, dewy black raspberries. Then the woman at the front of the line chose to buy all the pints displayed on the table. I felt a clenching, anxious panic come over me as I watched her snatch them up.

The person behind me sucked in her breath and said "Oh, are there any left!?"

That's just what I was wondering, but because I was in the process of sending out invisible extra-pointy asparagus spears into the back of the black raspberry-buying woman's head, I wasn't able to articulate the question myself.

It turned out that yes, there were plenty more berries - enough for everyone!

But I was a little traumatized by my greediness. I might need to do some deep breathing before shopping for precious produce next time out.

We just happened to be celebrating a birthday in the middle of a busy weekend, and I thought that individual cakes would be satisfying and fuss-free. I might be a little greedy, but I don't have time to mess with fussy, fancy cakes. I adapted a recipe for Brown Sugar Bundt Cake from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours (is there any recipe in this book that doesn't turn out perfectly?) by baking the batter in oversized Texas muffin tins instead of a Bundt pan and reducing the baking time.

These are essentially big, rich cupcakes. They would be yummy without the topping, maybe just a dusting of powdered sugar over the tops.

I would stand in line for these any day. Just don't buy all the berries!

Black Raspberry Almond Birthday Cakes
for 10 cakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup finely ground almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) butter, softened
2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

Topping:

1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint mixed fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries and blackberries or black raspberries)
Powdered sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 2 6-cup oversize (Texas) muffin tins with softened butter and dust with flour, tapping out the excess.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

In an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. Beat in the extracts.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and mixing just until dry ingredients are incorporated.

Spoon batter evenly into 10 cups of the muffin tins (pour water 3/4 full into the 2 empty muffin cups for even baking) and bake 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Cool pans on a rack 15 minutes before turning cakes out to cool completely.

To make the topping, combine all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat at high speed until the mixture forms soft peaks. Dollop over the tops of the cakes and top with berries. Dust with powdered sugar.

Happy Birthday!


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Show Me the Muffins

Italian Orange-Almond Crunch Oat Muffins

I’m starting off the week with some shameless self-promotion. Check out Quaker Oats and my muffin recipe, which recently netted me 2K! I made them today and added an embellishment of orange marmalade glaze.
These are very popular with my kids, too.

Italian Orange-Almond Crunch Oat Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

1 cup oats, quick or old-fashioned
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons grated fresh orange zest
1 1/2 cups packaged baking mix (I use Bisquick “Heart Smart”)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup crushed amaretti cookies (about 6 small cookies)
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup orange marmalade
1 tablespoon amaretto liqueur

Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray the pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together the oats, buttermilk, orange juice and zest. Let stand 10 minutes.
Combine the baking mix, sugar and cookies in a medium bowl.
Add butter, egg and extract to oats and mix well. Add the dry ingredients, mix just until moistened.

Fill the muffins cups about 3/4 full. Bake 20 minutes, or until tops are light golden brown. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place muffins on the rack over a sheet of wax paper.

Melt the marmalade and liqueur in a small saucepan. Drizzle over the muffins. Serve warm.

Passing the Meme



Lydia of The Perfect Pantry tagged me for this meme: Five Things Most People Don’t Know About Me, so here goes:

1. I’m devoted to entering cooking contests. It started out as an innocent way to indulge my creative side in the kitchen, and became kind of addicting.

2. I can put my leg behind my head in this bizarre-looking yoga posture.

3. Lilacs are my favorite flowers.

4. I always arrive five minutes late for everything.

5. I cannot tolerate cooked green bell peppers. Blech!

And now I’m passing this along to:
Anna of Cookie Madness
Nupur of One Hot Stove
Kristen of Dine and Dish
Bruno of Zinfully Delicious
Janelle of Talk of Tomatoes

Copyright (c) 2007 FamilyStyle Food