Day 5: Experimenting with Granola

I am all about leftovers- and since I haven’t grasped the method of cooking for two, we normally have some a few times a week. Tonight, since I’m fasting from meat, we get to enjoy some of the leftover Mahi Broccolini Bake from Wednesday. Normally, we don’t have leftover fish because I only buy two pieces but the fish was super fresh and there was a sale so I couldn’t resist and I bought a couple of extra pieces. Plus, we ate dinner at my husband’s best friend’s house that night so the boys had one of my husband’s delicious hot dog creations while I sampled the fish.

So since I don’t have to cook dinner and since I still have leftover Chunky Monkey Butterscotch Brownies from last night I figured now is the perfect time to try a granola recipe!

I’ve been wanting to make granola for a while now but somehow I never get around to it… which is why I started this blog in the first place! I’m so glad I’m finally getting around to it! I was a bit overwhelmed seeing how many different recipes there are out there and to be honest, I just wanted to start off nice and simple this time and then grow from there.

Let me start by saying obviously not every recipe I make comes out perfect the first time. Some recipes you have to learn from and adjust as you go… this was that recipe for me. Read the notes at the end to adjust the recipe accordingly:

Ingredients*

2 cups rolled oats

¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

¼ cup pistachios

2 TBS maple syrup

2 TBS Biscoff cookie butter spread

2 tsp vanilla extract

Spice mix of: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp ground cloves

Topping: handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 2 tsp maple syrup, TBS dark brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside. Combine maple syrup, Biscoff butter, and vanilla extract on low until melted down. Then add your oats to the pot and slightly combine. Take pot off of the heat and add shredded coconut, pistachios, raisins, and spice mix. Once fully combined, spread evenly on baking sheet. I personally love chocolate so I sprinkled a couple more on top, along with a drizzle of 2 tsp of maple syrup, and a TBS of dark brown sugar. Bake for about 25 minutes and enjoy!!

I just want to say that my house smells AMAZING after baking this granola. I already feel like it’s the holidays due to the warm spice mix aroma..., that being said, I learned a couple of things.

1.     Add raisins AFTER you bake the granola. I literally had to pick out every single raisin because everyone was burnt and throwing off my granola mix.

2.     I will also add the chocolate chips and pistachios after as well because some of them were a tad bit burned as well.

3.     Next time I might even add an extra TBS of Biscoff and use honey instead of maple syrup.

Overall the granola is still good and I will be using it in my Greek Yogurt snacks and maybe even as cereal. I'll definitely be remaking it though to perfect the recipe. You could also use it as a topping on your ice cream or add a little into your oatmeal for some texture.

Poured out from the pot

Addition of extra chocolate chips, brown sugar, and maple drizzle

After it came out of the oven