Chocolate & Peanut Granola

I have always loved the phrase "like father, like daughter''.  Being compared to the man that raised me, loved me, taught me, got me started in the kitchen, got me out of the first few days of third grade to go and stay in a beach house in Malibu, and is the son of my Meme (another person I am elated to be compared to) is something I am so proud of.  He is makes me laugh, holds me when I cry, and laughs at my jokes even when they don't make sense.  I like to think that I have at least some of those qualities that I can share with my family and friends. 

There is something else that we share, something that I only found out about two and a half years ago.  We both love granola.  We have this strange affinity for it.  I am not sure why it is there, but how can any one turn down granola?  It is crunchy and chewy at the same time.  Sometimes heady with cinnamon and sometimes crunchy with toasted grains, nuts, and seeds.  It can be pebbly or broken into shards or slabs; served with ice cream, yogurt, floating in a pool of milk, or eaten straight from the jar in handfuls (as both my father and I prefer). 

Best of all, it is easy to make and makes the house smell fabulous.  The ingredients are, for the most part, shelf stable so with the ingredients scattered around the cupboards, what are you waiting for?  Heat up that oven!

The specific recipe that I am referring to here is my riff on Nigella Lawson's recipe for Andy's Fairfield Granola.  I cut the recipe in half, for starters, and omitted the ginger and cut back on the sweetness by leaving out the brown rice syrup. 

The end result was more like a bittersweet granola speckled with perfectly toasted peanuts and heady with cinnamon.  It is more of a pebbly granola, but that just makes for better hand-scooping, which, between you, me, and my father, is a wonderful thing.

2 1/4c. oats (old fashioned, please)
1/2c. sunflower seeds
1/3c. white sesame seeds
1/3c. (unsweetened) apple sauce
1t. cinnamon
1/4 c. honey
2T. dark brown sugar
2T. cocoa powder
1c. peanuts
1/2t. salt
1T. oil

-Chuck all ingredients into a very large mixing bowl, mix well, and spread out on a lined sheet pan.
-Bake in a 325f oven for 40 minutes, turning every 10 minutes.
-Let cool thoroughly before storing.


This makes about 4.5 cups.

Honeyed Pistachio Granola with Apricots

I love granola.  I mean, what's not to love?  Different flavours and textures mingling together to make each mouthful (I mean, really- who has 'just a bite' of granola?) just as perfect as the one preceding it.  Making granola at home is something that I rarely do, but I always enjoy the rare occasion and this time was no exception.  With a minimal ingredient list and minimal hands-on time, this was easy to say the least and made just the perfect amount- 2 cups, after sufficiently sampling.  It also made the apartment smell wonderful.  Like I said- what's not to love about granola?

I will admit, I made this mostly for my father, who loves granola even more than I do.   He also happens to love salt, maybe even as much as I do.  This is the perfect granola to satisfy your salty & sweet craving.  If you would like a less salty version, however, just halve the amount listed and it should be to your liking.

1.5c. oats

1/2 c. raw shelled pistachios

1/2 t. kosher salt

1/4t. cardamon

2 (heaping) T. honey

2 T. butter

1/2 c. dried apricots, quartered

-Put the oven on to heat to 300.

-Combine the oats and pistachios in a bowl. 

-In a small saucepan melt the butter and honey, stirring in the salt and cardamon at the last minute.  Toss this with the oats and pistachios.

-Spread mixture onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

-Let this cool on the sheet for about 30-40 minutes before gently crumbling and embellishing with the apricots.

Enjoy this with yogurt, milk, over ice cream, or as a lovely little snack with tea or coffee.

Christmas Morning Granola

Last year marked the first of what I hope to be a traditional Christmas gift for my father, who happens to be an avid granola lover.  He is not really particular about it but does prefer to keep the sugar low and a smallish to non-existent nut content to keep the fat low as well.  I found a lovely recipe that was published in Nigella Christmas, a book that is my favourite to cook from, especially for Christmas treats and gifts.  I have changed up the recipe a bit, to fit my father's tastes and have altered the amounts of nuts and dried fruit.  


I love the smells that fill the kitchen as this is baking, and what you end up with, after a gooey mess of oats and seeds, is crispy chunks of not too sweet granola.

2.5 c. oats (not instant)

1/4c. white sesame seeds

1/2c. sunflower kernels

a small handful of walnuts 

2t. cinnamon

1/2c.  honey

1/3c. light brown sugar

1T. flavourless oil, such as canola

1t. salt

a handful of dried cranberries

-Combine all save for the dried fruit in a bowl.  (This is a very sticky mixture, so I normally use two silicone spatulas.)

-Spread onto a lined baking sheet and slide into a 325f. oven.

-This will take about 30-50 minutes depending on your oven, and I would recommend moving it around about halfway through the baking.  Keep and eye on this, and do not wait until it goes crispy in the oven.  It will crisp upon cooling.

-When it has cooled, break into shards and add the dried fruit.

This is the delicious result:

I will admit that I forgot to add the fruit and so it isn't mixed through but rather scattered ontop.  

Naturally, you can change the type(s) and amount(s) of nuts and dried fruits, for your own tastes.  Just be warned: this is terribly addictive stuff, so if you're making it as a gift...well, you might want to make double.

Christmas is just around the corner, and I have so much more baking and cooking to look forward to!

Hope you all are well.

What do you enjoy most about granola?