Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Granola--What's Good for you

I love oats.  Oats are my breakfast.  I eat oats every. single. day.   I love oats in almost any form of culinary delight.  Oatmeal, both rolled and steel cut.  Muesli.  Granola.

This week I ran out of granola and didn't feel like jumping in the car and zooming off to the grocery store just to buy granola.  So, I decided to make some.   Because of my dietary restriction of no added salt, sugar or oil, all of which most granola recipes include, I had to adapt.  I've seen granola recipes which do not have oil, but they are few and far between.  So.  Here is my Willow's Made Up Granola recipe from yesterday.

Willow's Mix for Basic Granola
Preheat oven to 300F.

3 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (you can add, change, whatever spice you like--I've seen cardamon, ginger, nutmeg...)
Here is where you'd add salt, if you wanted to, maybe 1/4 teaspoon

1/3 cup maple syrup*
1/4 cup water (you can use oil, but you don't need to)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*the recipes usually call for brown or white sugar (1/3-1/2 cup) PLUS 1/3 cup of honey or other sweetener.  That's waaayyy too sweet for me.  I had real maple syrup (thanks, Trader Joe's!) and honey, but I choose maple syrup for this batch, just because.

Put the oats and cinnamon in a large bowl and stir it around.  Pour the maple syrup, water and vanilla into another bowl and then pour on to the oats mixture.  Stir together.  I used my (clean and washed) hands to make sure all the ingredients were evenly mixed.  Do this quickly so the oats don't get mushy and soggy.
Scoop the granola on to a large baking tray which has sides (not flat), making sure it's spread evenly around the pan and place in oven.  Bake for 15 minutes, stirring at least once to check that it's not burning.  Continue for another 15 minutes or until the oats are toasty brown.

Take out and let cool.  Add whatever fruits and nuts you want.  I happened to have some pecans and raisins, so that's what's in this batch.  Enjoy!  Or as we say in Bahasa Indonesia, "Selamat makan!"


6 comments:

Faith said...

i eat steel cut oats every.single.morning as well. (during the work week or at least 5 days out of 7. the other days I either eat a hard boiled egg with flaxseed toast and fruit OR whole grain regular cheerios with unsweetened almond milk and fruit like a half grapefruit.) I LOVE granola in my greek yogurt (i buy the oikos triple 0)and am now buying some that has less than 10 g of sugar. it was hard to find! I am going to save this recipe you shared and make this while on winter break in a couple weeks!! thanks for sharing.

ellen b said...

Good job! It's best to be your own chef and advocate!

Monica said...

I too like oatmeal and granola. But did you know if you have gout you should steer clear? My husband has gout and there are so many things that affect it! Thanks for this recipe! I will have to try it for myself! :)

Julene said...

Very nice! Thanks for sharing this recipe, since it is not common to find one that omits the sugar and oil! I had steel cut this morning but like oat bran cereal from Bob's Red Mill the best.

Mereknits said...

It sounds delicious.
Hugs,
Meredith

Tracy said...

DELICIOUS!! I like your simple recipe--thank you! Oats are big at our house too, and I make granola a lot in one way shape or fashion. A great way to start the day! :) ((HUGS))