Puffed Wheat, Almond and Coconut Granola Bars

Blogging Marathon# 64: Week 3/ Day 1

Theme: Wholewheat Dishes

Dish: Puffed Wheat, Almond and Coconut Granola Bars

Day 2 of 'Wholewheat dishes' and I'm using it in puffed wheat form today. My husband has been asking me to make granola bars at home for quite some time, so I tried these granola bar recipe from Cooking Light magazine.

Recipe calls for goji berries which I have never used before. I bought some from the bulk section of Whole Foods -- they are quite expensive, but they are supposed have many health benefits. If you can't find them, then use any other fried fruit that you like.

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Easy Granola (with Almonds)

Here's an easy peasy recipe to make Granola. I say easy because it requires a very few pantry ingredients that are mixed together and then baked off until golden. Recipe is from a cookbook that I recently bought, Clean Slate.

This cookbook emphasizes on eating clean, whole and unprocessed foods. Original recipe for this was made with rolled barley flakes and rolled spelt flakes. I went shopping looking for these ingredients but I couldn't find them, so I made the granola with them and with just rolled oats.

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Granola with Cinnamon and Nuts

I always stop my husband from buying granola or granola bars and promise him that I will make them at home for him. But never get around doing that and he keeps asking me for them. After procrastinating for as long as I can, I finally made him this Cinnamon-Nut Granola from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain baking cookbook.

This granola is a perfect balance of salt and sweet, crisp and crunch, fruit and nuts. Using butter to make the granola gives it a ton of flavor, especially in combination with cinnamon. But you can easily substitute vegetable oil or coconut oil for the butter. Varying the fruits and nuts in the granola is the fun part, so feel free to use whatever you have in your pantry.

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Toasted Millet & Oats Granola

Bake-a-thon 2015: Day 3

Bake of the Day: Toasted Millet & Oats Granola

Today I have a simple and easy to make granola recipe with millet, rolled oats, coconut and pistachios. Recipe is from Everyday Food by Martha Stewart. This recipe has been on my to-make list for a while now and I'm glad I can finally strike it off from the list.

This granola is crunchy with the toasted millet and chewy with the coconut flakes and dried cranberries. I like to eat it over some Greek yogurt for breakfast. Soaking it in almond milk makes it a little soft and easier to eat.

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California Granola

BM# 51 -- Baking Marathon: Day 11

Bake of the Day: Breakfast Bakes -- California Granola

We are starting the 3rd week of this month's mega baking marathon. After all the breads and baked with yeast and sourdough, this week will be all about baked goodies served for breakfast.
First off, I have a crunchy granola recipe that I personally loved munching on. Store bought granola is such a rip off, they are way too expensive and are loaded with sugar and other unnecessary ingredients. It is very easy to make at home and the quantity of sugar and oil can be adjusted as per taste.

This recipe is from Bobby Flay's 'Brunch with Bobby' cooking show. I love watching that show because he makes brunch recipes from all over the world and it is exciting to see the number of variations in pancakes, crepes, omelettes he comes up with on the show. This granola recipe is from his California brunch episode. It is quite simple to make with most of the ingredients from the pantry.

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Homemade Granola-Healthy Start to the New Year

Hope everyone enjoyed the Holiday season. To start the New Year on a healthy note, I’ve two easy granola recipes. I gave Granola as Holiday give-away gifts this year to my co-workers and everyone seemed to like them, so I’m glad that I took time to make some home-made granola instead of buying things that I’m not if they are going to use or not.

Quick & Easy Granola: First granola I made is extremely easy and I just followed the most basic granola formula-Grains+Seeds/Nuts+Mixings+Dry fruit+Sweetener+Flavoring. So here’s how I made this simple granola:

Ingredients:
Rolled oats (Grains)– 4cups
Wheat Germ (Mixing) – ½cup
Pumpkin Seeds (Pepitas) – ¼cup
Sliced Almonds – 1 cup
Pure Maple syrup – ½ cup
Canola Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - ½tsp
Dry cherries – ½ cup
Raisins – ½ cup

Method:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Toss the oats, almonds, wheat germ, pepitas with the maple syrup, oil and salt in a large mixing bowl.
• Spread the mixture evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and bake, tossing once, until golden and crisp, about 25 to 30 minutes.
• Add the dried fruit as soon as the granola comes out of the oven and toss to combine.
• Let cool. Keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Granola: When I saw this recipe in 500 Vegan Recipes cookbook, I could only think of one of my co-workers. She always has PB&J sandwiches for lunch and I wanted to make a batch of this granola just for her.

Ingredients:

Old fashioned Rolled Oats – 1½ cups

Brown Rice powder – ½ cup, divided

Creamy Peanut Butter – ¼cup

Your favorite Jelly/ Jam – ¼ cup (I used blackberry jam)

Sugar - 2tbsp

Cinnamon - ½tsp

Water - ¼cup

Salt - ¼tsp

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Combine the peanut butter, sugar and water in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 30-60 seconds so that the peanut better is more manageable.
• Stir in 2tbsp of brown rice flour, cinnamon, salt and oats. The mixture will be very thick and quite unmanageable at this point, just place it on the baking sheet and combine using your fingers.
• Sprinkle the remaining 2tbsp of brown rice flour on top and work it in gently until it is completely incorporated. Try not to break the granola chunks too much while doing this.
• Add the jam in little pieces, try to leave them as chunks or bits instead of mixing and coating the granola.
• Spread the mixture evenly on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Bake for 8 minutes. Stir well.
• Bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Let cool and transfer into an airtight container. Store in the fridge once completely cooled.

I also made Chocolate-Cherry Granola from Nupur's blog and kept a container for myself after giving away 3 of them. Homemade granola is extremely easy, quick and very inexpensive to make. Compare them to the ones you get in the grocery store, they are fresh and not laden with preservatives and chemicals. I'll sure be making these granolas more this year.