Friday, November 27, 2009

Honey Almond Granola

I've wanted to try making my own granola for quite some time now, and today was the day! I couldn't find dried pears, so I used some golden raisins. We liked this, but I'm not sure that I think sesame seeds work in granola. I definitely want to make homemade granola again, but I won't use this recipe. Does anyone have an awesome granola recipe they'd like to share?





Honey Almond Granola
Gourmet December 2008

3 cups old-fashioned oats (9 ounces)
1 cup sliced almonds with skin (1/4 pound)
¼ cup sesame seeds
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 tablespoons mild honey
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
½ cup dried apricots, finely chopped
½ cup dried pears, finely chopped

Accompaniments: Greek-style yogurt

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Oil a 4-sided sheet pan or line with parchment paper.

Stir together oats, almonds, and sesame seeds in a large bowl. Heat oil, honey, cardamom, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan over low heat (or in a microwave) until heated through. Stir into oat mixture.

Spread evenly in sheet pan and bake, stirring once, until golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
Cool granola completely in pan (it will crisp as it cools), then stir in fruit.

Cooks’ note:
Granola keeps, frozen in an airtight container, up to 1 month.

MacGourmet Rating: 3 Stars
at

4 comments:

  1. JosieNovember 28, 2009 at 1:41 PM

    Here is the granola recipe I have perfected to my tastes over the past year. You can really use any thing to create the 10 cups of "stuff" - sometimes I mix in a variety of dried fruit at the end. You can fiddle with it to your taste. It makes a VERY crunchy granola (which I prefer).

    10 cups stuff
    - 7 cups oatmeal
    - 1 cup almonds (slivered or whatever)
    - 1 cup pecans
    - ½ cup wheat germ
    - ½ cup sunflower seeds, pepitas, whatever

    Zest of 1 orange
    1 tsp salt
    1 tbsp cinnamon
    1 ½ cups brown sugar
    Juice from the orange + enough water to total ½ cup
    4 tsp vanilla

    Preheat oven to 275 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the 10 cups of stuff, orange zest, salt and cinnamon. In a microwave safe container, add the sugar and liquid. Microwave for 5 minutes until sugar is completely dissolved. Stir vanilla into the sugar mixture (be careful – it foams). Stir sugar mixture into oatmeal mixture and thoroughly combine.

    Spread over 2 foil lined baking sheets and bake for 25 minutes. Stir and bake for another 25 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the granola in it overnight or at least 6 hours.

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  2. Chelsea (Chelsea's Chew and Run Fun)December 2, 2009 at 12:16 PM

    I like the sound of "Honey" and "Almond" in granola. Sorry to hear the sesame seed weren't the best addition, it still looks delicious though!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lyd StewDecember 12, 2009 at 4:26 PM

    One of my favorite ways to start the day! Good pick!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Coffee and VanillaDecember 28, 2009 at 5:03 PM

    Oh, I love granolas... thank you for reminding me to make another portion :)

    Happy New Year!

    Margot

    ReplyDelete