Sunday, March 20, 2011

Coconut, Maple, and Cherry Granola

I love granola, and I haven't bought it for myself in years.

Why? Well, it's expensive, for one thing, plus it usually contains the dreaded tree nuts. I don't buy a lot of things with tree nuts in them, lest accidents occur and we get to have a nice visit from the friendly neighborhood paramedics.

No, thanks. When you tell me I GET to pay ten dollars a pound for something AND it could kill one or more of my children, I'm going to tell you to shove off, in the nicest possible way. If I'm going to pay ten dollars a pound for something, it had better be served medium rare with a nice Shiraz.

The funny thing about granola is, it is made up mostly of oats. You know, the kind that come in a tube with a picture of an old guy on the front. Or, the generic tube of the same. Those are super cheap, and you can get them practically free sometimes if you play the coupon game.

Ten bucks a pound. No, thank you very much, I do NOT want to wait on a party of four simply to enjoy one pound of garnished, toasted oats. *shakes head*

So for this recipe of granola you need

1/4 C Tropical Traditions Coconut oil
1/2 C Maple syrup
2 t Vanilla
1 C coconut
5 C oats, rolled
2 C garnishes- for this I used two fabulous cups of dried sour cherries, but if you don't have nut issues, I'd definitely replace half of that with some yummy almonds or walnuts.
Cinnamon and salt to taste.

Melt the coconut oil and the maple syrup together over low heat until warm, add vanilla. Combine oats, coconut and nuts (if using) in a large bowl. Stir the oil mixture into the oat mixture, add salt and cinnamon to taste. (just steal a pinch, it's good even raw). Spread on to a cookie sheet and pop into a preheated oven at 325. Stir every fifteen minutes until its a nice golden brown. Toss the spread the dried fruit on top when you take it out, the heat and the oils from the granola will permeate the fruit, flavoring it nicely without hardening it up.

Let cool and put in a suitable container. I like these spaghetti sauce jars.

The whole recipe costs about three dollars, and makes double a bag of fancy granola.
P.S. If you click the linky above to order you coconut oil, choose refer a friend, and put in 7259861, they'll send you a free recipe book

P.P.S I wrote this recipe myself while playing with a huge jar of coconut oil sent to me for review by Tropical Traditions. I'm not being compensated in any other way, although I am having a blast playing with the oil. Review to follow.





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4 comments:

Catherine said...

I love coconut oil. I pretty much only use coconut and olive oil anymore. thanks for stopping by and following, I'll definitely check you out tonight.

Jacqueline said...

Can I soak the oats first? Love the recipe! Really fantastic. I love that it has no sugar!
Following from Say Hi Sunday!

http://theorganicblonde.com

lovinangels said...

@Jacqueline
I wouldn't soak them- I'm using rolled oats, the kind you would put in oatmeal cookies.

Trish said...

Oh another recipe to try. I make my own granola too, although it's not really "granola" since we can't have oats and need to be gluten free, but I'd love to try your recipe with some of my alternatives.

Stopping by from the Sunday blog hop. I've never done one of these before, but I'm taking some time to check out and find some new blogs to follow.