granola Archives -

March 3, 2016

Chocolate Granola Bark

Earlier this week a small group of ladies from our iZōsh group met together to watch and discuss a portion of the Half the Sky documentary. I’d already seen most of the documentary, but I learn so much from being with these other women, and watching parts of it again reminded me of a world that’s so far away from my own. It makes my heart heavy, but I also find it keeps me grounded and helps me shape a better perspective on life. “Chocolate and Chat” was the title of our evening and each of us brought a fair-trade chocolate bar to share. Our collection was impressive. I do try to buy fair-trade whenever I can because it empowers small farmers and artisans to improve their own livelihoods by building sustainable businesses; it also connects us with other cultures and gives us the opportunity to directly support their economies. And goodness, there are so many great varieties of high-quality fair-trade chocolate out there.

June 30, 2014

Buckwheat Granola {with Dried Cherries and Cacao Nibs}

I recently came across Emmy’s Super Cereal on some recent travels and decided to buy a box as a snack for the road. The cereal is basically sprouted buckwheat sweetened with coconut sugar and then dehydrated until the buckwheat becomes super crunchy and toasty. So delicious and satisfying! I immediately began thinking of all of the things I could do with toasted buckwheat. Despite having the word “wheat” in it, buckwheat is actually a seed and not part of the wheat family. It is full of nutrients and also gluten-free.

This buckwheat granola comes together quickly and your whole house will smell wonderful as it bakes. I’ve always liked the idea of sweetening my granolas with coconut sugar, but I’ve always had problems getting the coconut sugar to dissolve and it always ended up very granular. This time I made a simple syrup from the coconut sugar by dissolving it in some water before mixing it with the coconut oil and that worked beautifully. The buckwheat ended up being lightly sweetened with just a hint of coconut flavor from the sugar and oil and it remained crunchy for days when stored in an airtight container. The flavor combinations for this are endless. Substitute any type of dried fruit for the cherries and add nuts in addition to or instead of the cacao nibs. I love cacao nibs, but my kids are not big fans so I made them a cherry and sliced almonds version and they loved it!

Dried Cherry and Cacao Nib Buckwheat Granola

Ingredients

¼ cup coconut sugar
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons coconut oil
½ teaspoon vanilla
⅛ teaspoon sea salt
2 cups raw buckwheat groats
⅓ cup dried cherries, chopped
¼ cup cacao nibs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300.
in a small saucepan, combine the coconut sugar and water and whisk together over low heat until coconut sugar is completely dissolved and mixture becomes a simple syrup. Add the coconut oil and whisk together until coconut oil is completely melted. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and salt.
Spread the buckwheat groats and dried cherries out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Pour the coconut sugar mixture over the buckwheat and dried cherries and stir with a wooden spoon until buckwheat and cherries are evenly coated.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until buckwheat becomes light golden brown.
Cool completely on pan, stirring occasionally to avoid clumps. Mix in cacao nibs. Transfer to an airtight container for storage.

May 15, 2014

Coconut Maple Granola

I realize the abundance of granola recipes out there and it seems like I myself am always trying a new variety of homemade granola. This particular recipe is one that I frequently revisit and it remains a favorite. I love that homemade granola is so flexible and adaptable. I’ve written the recipe according to how I made this batch, but I often use honey instead of maple syrup, cinnamon instead of vanilla, quinoa instead of sesame seeds, raisins instead of currants… the possibilities are endless. This granola incorporates an egg white, which helps the granola to maintain its crunchiness after it has been baked.

Coconut Maple Granola

Ingredients

3¼ cups rolled oats
¾ cup chopped almonds
¾ cup chopped walnuts
1½ cups flaked coconut, unsweetened
¼ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup maple syrup
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg white
½ cup dried currants

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300.
On a large 10 x 17 baking pan, mix together the oats, nuts, coconut, and sesame seeds.
In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in the maple syrup, salt, and vanilla. Whisk in the egg white.
Pour the syrup mixture over the oat mixture and carefully stir together until the oat mixture is evenly coated.
Bake at 300 for 40-50 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.
Allow the granola to cool completely on the tray, stirring occasionally to prevent clumps. Stir in the dried currants. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

slightly adapted from Bon Appetit