This morning, with my mind set on our usual breakfast parfait, and realizing we had finished off the granola and I hadn't had time to make any more, I suddenly had a brainwave! I decided to try toasting the oats in our cast iron pan on the stove to make a kind of instant granola so at least the oats would be a bit crispy rather than raw.
I'm pleased to say it turned out great! So I thought I'd share it with you in case you too have a day when you are pressed for time but have a hankering for homemade granola. I didn't measure anything so I'll try to estimate amounts but remember that granola is whatever you want it to be, and the variations are endless, so be creative and just use what seems good to you.
Ingredients:
oats (I use old fashioned)
oil, any healthy cooking oil (coconut would be wonderful)
maple syrup
coconut
dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots, prunes, dates, etc)
nuts
I warmed the pan up first on medium heat then added about a cup of oats and stirred them all around. Next I drizzled about 2 Tbsp. of oil over the oats, stirred some more, and then turned the heat down quite low. Still stirring, I sprinkled about 2 Tbsp of maple syrup over it and continued. I didn't want it to burn so I stirred it almost continuously until the oats began to turn golden and start to crisp up. At this point I added coconut, again about 2 Tbsp, and continued stirring. The coconut browned up quickly so I didn't leave it on the heat for long because I like coconut with just a little golden colour. I quickly removed the pan from the heat and added the rest - raisins, cranberries, pecan pieces, and chopped dates. I forgot the sunflower seeds so next time I'll add those as well. When the mixture cools down it will be nice and crispy.
The whole procedure took only about 15 minutes plus a few more to cool down so we were munching on our 'nola parfaits in less that 25 minutes, and we still have some left for tomorrow. The bonus is it didn't require heating up the whole oven and waiting for 45 minutes to an hour for it to bake so we managed to save some energy as well.
I just whipped up my first batch, but instead of maple syrup (which I didn't have on hand,) I used a glob of melted honey with a bunch of cinnamon tossed in. (Then I spotted the almond extract and had to add that too.) :)
ReplyDeleteIt took very little time and is hard to keep out of. I don't know why I would ever buy granola again. There's so many variations to try! Thanks, Mum!
Oh wow - honey and cinnamon, and almond...mmm! I will have to try that too; thanks for sharing, Katie.
ReplyDeleteWe won't be buying granola again either unless we are desperate because commercially made stuff just cannot compare.