Good Eats: Maple Granola

Today I was aimlessly wandering through a collection of amazing blogs, and I was reading "10 in 20: Morning Meals" by one of my favorite blogs The Everygirl. And when I saw this link to make maple granola, I freaked out because I. Love. Granola. The only problem with this delicious, crunchy treat is that in today's society, companies pack granola with lots of sugar, preservatives, and other processed ingredients. That's why I have always wanted to make my own granola, and it was surprisingly easy.

 

What You'll Need:

 

3 cups of oats

1/4 cup of coconut oil

1/2 chopped walnuts

1/3 chopped almonds

5 tablespoons of maple syrup

1 tbsp. of raw honey

1/4 tsp. of salt

1/4 tsp. of vanilla extract

 

Directions:

The directions on the original blog post include mixing dry ingredients then heating liquids, but I threw everything into a bowl, mixed it up, cooked it, and then poof! I had delicious maple granola. I simplified the steps because it still tastes the same whatever way you make it...

 

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees

2. Mix all the ingredients together (it helps to mix dry first, then add wet, but whichever way you prefer)

3. Lay the granola on a pan with parchment paper

4. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown

 

Tips:

1. Whatever nuts you prefer can be substituted for the 1/3 cup of almonds and 1/2 cup of walnuts. I only had almonds (we're an almond loving family), and the granola still tasted fabulous.

2. When the granola first comes out of the oven, it isn't hard like it should be. I thought I had done something wrong, but let it cool and it'll turn out just fine.

3. If the granola isn't sweet enough, add a little organic cane sugar (can be found at Whole Foods)

4. Whole oats work a lot better than steel cut oats. Again, I had to work with what we had, and this meant I had to use steel cut oats instead. The granola wasn't as chunky, but still had a phenomenal taste!

5. If the granola isn't sticky enough before baking, add a little more honey and coconut oil. Adding more maple syrup will make the flavor overwhelming and we don't want this, so stick with honey and coconut for added "stickiness".

 

 

{all the ingredients minus vanilla}

 

{pre-cut almonds, I just guessed on the amount}

 

{it takes a long time to cut, use a food processor instead!}

 

{yum. honey.}

 

{does anyone love the smell of vanilla more than I do?}

 

{mix it well or it'll have a weird texture}

 

{yummy!}

 

I plan on adding some almond milk and fresh berries to my granola in the morning for a healthy start to the day!

Happy baking :)

Love,

Natalie

Yummy Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

I'm usually a strict cookie baker (with the exception of box mix brownies), and I mentally decided I should probably expand my horizons with this whole baking thing. When I found this delicious recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, I figured making some scrumptious chocolate peanut butter bars was my first step away from the simple cookie making. So long story short, I made some pretty rocking bars and I have the feeling they won't last very long :) You should definitely try making these if you have a rainy afternoon to spare, here's the recipe:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup (8 tbsp.) softened butter

1/3 cup of peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)

1/2 granulated sugar

1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk (I just added two eggs, still turned out fine)

1 cup peanut butter chips

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13-baking pan and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and oats.

3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated and brown sugars until light and well-mixed, 2-3 minutes. Mix in vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until combined.

4. Stir in the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips

5. Press the batter into the pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes until lightly browned on the edges. Don't overbake or the bars will be dry! Remove the pan to a cooling rack and let the bars cool in the pan before cutting into squares.

My Tips:

1. The recipe calls for an egg and egg yolk, however I just used two whole eggs (no shells of course :) and it worked just fine

2. I made the mistake of using semi-sweet chocolate chips, so if you aren't a fan dark chocolate like I do, use milk chocolate chips and the bars will be sweeter. (they were fine for the rest of my family, but I wasn't such a big lover)

3. When mixing all ingredients together, I found it worked best to use an electric mixer to take out all the large chunks and cream the ingredients.

4. I added some chocolate chips 2 minutes before the bars were done so they would melt on top and let me just say "hallelujah" yumminess

I hope you enjoy these beautiful little bars, expect to see more recipes as I "explore my horizons"! Happy baking!

Love,

Natalie