After taking most of last week to post my six-part non-fiction creation, I figured I’d take a few days off before putting anything new on the blog. Being a social media recluse for the most part, I surprised myself by posting something that was so personal. But I think it’s a good idea for all of us to occasionally step outside our comfort zones, and posting a thirty-five plus page “memoir” of sorts, was a good way for me to do so. That being said, don’t expect me to start posting selfies or hashtags on a daily basis. (I technically still don’t know how a hashtag actually works. Several have tried to offer an explanation, but to no avail.)
Now, on to one of my great passions in life… wandering the aisles of Wegmans, cooking, and stuffing my face with delicious, satisfying sustenance. On the blog header, one of the descriptors under my alias is ‘Vegan Stuff to Eat’, so I guess I’d better start making good on my promise and post a recipe. For my first creation, we’re going basic. Without further ado, I give you…
Granola.
Really? Granola?
Yes. Granola.
How boring… How unsexy…
That’s not very nice.
Why would I want to make homemade granola when I can buy dozens of different kinds at the store?
Good question.
I used to buy all of my granola in the nature/organic section of Wegmans, and I was satisfied for the most part. However, once I started cooking from scratch more often, I noticed that any of the processed food I consumed often tasted too heavy, too sweet, too salty, or a combination of all three… store-bought granola included. A quick read of the nutritional information on the back of most granola packages reveals the presence of excess amounts of added sugar and oil. I find that I often feel oil-laden granola festering like a lump in the pit of my stomach for an hour or two after noshing… not exactly what I want to feel during the first several miles of a weekend long run.
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy a disgustingly gooey, oozing cinnamon roll with my morning cup of coffee as much as the next foodie. But when I want complex, slow-release carbs to fuel me up for a 2-3 hour run, without feeling weighed down, I have to leave the heavy sweets in the cupboard, store-bought granola included.
After several experiments, I’ve perfected my formula for basic, homemade granola. I typically make 1-2 batches a week and eat a large bowl within an hour and a half of my morning runs and races. I also like to enjoy a bowl in the evening, when I’m craving something more solid and hearty than a smoothie.
Read on for the recipe:
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
- 1/2 cup nut of choice (I like walnuts or almonds)
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- a pinch of salt
What to Do:
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Dump the oatmeal, nuts, and seeds together in a large bowl. Add the applesauce, maple syrup, and spices and mix together thoroughly with a rubber spatula until the raw granola is homogenously moist.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Dump the granola onto the pan and spread around evenly to the edges. Bake for 8 minutes.
Mix the warm granola around the pan, spread back out to the edges, and return the pan to the oven. Set the timer for 8 more minutes, close the oven, but turn off the heat.
After the timer goes off, simply open the oven door slightly and leave the granola in there for awhile. At this point, the temperature inside the oven will have dropped enough that your granola won’t cook any longer, but it will continue to crisp up and dry out into a delicious, crunchy mixture.
Once cooled, store in an airtight container. You may be wondering about the absence of raisins or other dried fruit. I prefer adding a separate batch of raisins or dried fruit to each individual bowl I eat. I initially added them to the raw granola mixture, but I found that baking them dried them out and made them even more tough. Then I tried adding raw raisins to the mixture after baking, but I’d always end up eating them all within the first few bowls, even when I tried to distribute them evenly (hashtaghomogenous) throughout the granola in the storage container. So now, I add a handful to each bowl.
Stay tuned… as the next food post will be something much sexier than granola… I’m thinking vegan stuffed shells. Here’s a picture to prime your taste buds and get you drooling.
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