Saturday, March 12, 2011

happy saturday!

the sun is shining and i'm a happy little lady. temps are supposed to reach the almost 60's! so, to celebrate (not really...i was going to make this regardless)  i made my favorite granola this morning. the recipe was given to me by a friend, but it's from the barefoot contessa, back to basics cookbook. the recipe is for homemade granola bars, but you can make it into granola if you'd prefer that instead. it's so good and perfect for a (somewhat) warm saturday morning :)

here's what you'll need:
ingredients:
2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed 
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries
(you can use any combination of dried fruit if you don't like dates, apricots or cranberries. just make sure your total dried fruit quantity is 1 1/2 cups. i used all cranberries in this batch)

instructions:
-preheat oven to 350 degrees. butter an 8x12" baking dish & line with parchment paper



-toss oatmeal, almonds & coconut together on a sheet pan & bake for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in wheat germ




- reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees

- place butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. add dried fruit and stir well

- pour mixture into prepared pan (lined with parchment paper)

here's where the recipe differs depending on if you want to make bars or just plain granola:

for bars,
- pour mixture into prepared pan. wet your fingers and lightly press the mix evenly into the pan.
- bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned
- cool for at least 2-3 hours before cutting into squares. 



for granola,
- pour mixture into prepared pan. evenly distribute mixture on pan - do not press down.
- bake for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned.
- separate mixture once you take it out of the oven and scrape off of parchment paper (using a spatula). leave on pan to cool for a few hours.
- instead of cutting into squares, the granola should be somewhat broken apart already. continue to crumble into pieces, if needed.
- let the granola cool and place in an airtight container

both recipes are great with your favorite yogurt or as an afternoon snack. MUCH better than the store bought kind! they make great holiday gifts too - last year i gave little mason jars full of the granola to co-workers for christmas. tied a little ribbon around the top...granola was gone by the end of the day. yum-mie! (oh, and ps...beau has already eaten half the granola i made this morning. my money is on it being gone by tomorrow afternoon).

cheers!

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