Home made granola goodness

I've always been a fan of a toasted muesli with yogurts. While I was on long service leave in the USA for three months, I became besotted with granola. I ate it everywhere, I even had granola coated french toast (which by the way is awesome!) So seeing I've had all these ingredients floating around for muesli bars, I thought I'd try my hand at my own granola.

As a starting point, I found these great website and used the recipe they posted as a starting point. You can check the original recipe titled Easy Homemade Granola
from "Baked: New Frontiers in Baking" by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito on The Amateur Gourmet here! I recommend looking at their site... very cute!

My ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons or good quality olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup macadamia nuts
1/4 cup sunflower seeds

then sprinkling to taste of shredded coconut, linseed and pumpkin seeds, craisins and chopped dried apricots.

How to!

Preheat the oven to 165 Celsius. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, toss the oats with the cinnamon and salt.

In a medium bowl, stir together the oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk until completely combined.

Pour the honey mixture over the oats mixture and use your hands to combine them: Gather up some of the mixture in each hand and make a fist. Repeat until all of the oats are coated with the honey mixture.

Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread it out evenly, but leave a few clumps here and there for texture.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. Sprinkle the almonds over the granola and return the baking sheet to the oven.

Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. Sprinkle the nuts and seeds over the granola, stir in and return the baking sheet to the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. Let cool completely. Sprinkle the dried fruit over the granola and transfer it to an airtight container.

The granola will keep for 1 week.

I love mine with just plain yogurts and some poached fruit on top... delicious!

Miss Mardi Muesli bars

Muesli bars... I love them! this is a great non bake recipe that is a little bit like a sesame snap. The great part is that you can alter the fruit part to what ever you feel like, or what is in your cupboard. I like to do a combo of dried cranberries and apricots, or even chopped dates instead of sultanas!

Trust me... these won't last long!
Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup wheatgerm
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup sunflower kernels
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1 cup sultanas
125g butter
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar

How to put it all together!

1. Grease and line a 3cm deep, 16cm x 28cm (base) baking pan with baking paper. Cook oats, coconut, wheatgerm, sesame seeds, sunflower kernels and pumpkin seeds in a frying pan over medium heat, stirring, for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a bowl. Set aside to cool. Stir in sultanas.
2. Cook butter, honey and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, without stirring, for 7 minutes or until mixture forms a soft ball when a little is dropped into ice-cold water. Add to dry ingredients. Stir until combined.
3. Spoon mixture into pan. Use a large metal spoon to press down firmly. Allow to cool. Cut into squares. Store in a foil-lined airtight container for up to 7 days.