Granola

I've been wanting to make my own granola for ages, ever since I realised that my favourite cereal at the supermarket is stupidly pricey for what is, pretty much, just fancy schmancy oats.

I mostly followed the directions I found on this webpage. It contains some good advice and different variations for granola.

With my batch, I used dried cranberries, dried dates and pepitas, which I've been enjoying for breakfast with some good yoghurt dolloped on top. I over baked it though - I should've realised that the granola would crisp up when it cooled down - so mine is a bit too crunchy. Plus, I didn't read the instructions properly and threw the dried fruit in at the beginning of the baking time so that added to the hardness. It's still tasty though and I can't wait to make a better, improved batch!



Granola

Adapted from USAweekend.com

2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup maple syrup
1/8 cup golden syrup
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup of dried fruit (I used 3/4 cup of chopped dried dates, 1/4 cup of dried cranberries and a small handful of pepitas)

Preheat oven to 135°C. Lightly oil a baking tray.

In a bowl, mix together the oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon, leaving out the dried fruit.

In a small saucepan, heat the maple syrup, golden syrup, oil and water over a low heat until almost simmering. Drizzle over the oat mixture and stir to combine.

Pour the mixture on to the baking tray, and squeeze the cereal a handful at a time to form small clumps.

Bake for 30 minutes and then stir in the dried fruit. Return to the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. It will crisp up as it cools down.

Apple, dried cherry/cranberry and almond loaf

A couple of weeks ago, the Good Food and Wine Show was here in Melbourne. Like we do most years, Bro and I went along. This year seemed quite good, and there were some new products/stalls that I hadn't seen before. Previously there were lots of stalls with cheese and yoghurt – and there were hardly any this year. I'm not sure what that means, but I found it interesting.

I had a good time, and came home with some souvenirs, which included heavy show bags and 13 blocks of Lindt chocolate! My lovely Bro helped carry the heavy bags home without complaint <----- that is a lie! He complained the WHOLE TIME! But I better be careful or he won't carry them next year... love you, Bro! ;)

One of my souvenirs was a Bill Granger DVD that had a few snippets from his cooking show. Alastair and I watched it last week while we had breakfast (crumpets with butter and honey if you're interested). The first recipe was for an apple, dried cherry and almond loaf.

The loaf he made looked pretty good, so I decided to turn on the oven and do some baking. Dried cherries aren't a pantry staple of mine, but I had a pack of dried cranberries that I used instead. Apart from the cranberry substitution, I basically followed the recipe outlined here on lifestyle food.

I read recently that if you're measuring honey, you should oil the measuring cup/spoon. (Clever bakers may know this already.) The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of honey so I got to try it out - and whatdoyouknow! The honey slid straight out!

After the loaf had baked I was sooooooo patient and waited until it had cooled completely before slicing and tasting it. It was good - not too sweet, but with bits of tangy fruit and nuttiness from the almonds and oats.



It's not a very moist loaf though, and the next day it seemed to have dried out. In the DVD, Bill suggested toasting it and eating it with ricotta. I tried toasting a slice and found that it helped revive it (plus it smelt amazing). Worth a try if you're after something for morning/afternoon tea. Or maybe even breakfast!

Blacksmith's tea loaf

This so called loaf is basically a cake. It's pretty quick since all the ingredients get thrown into a saucepan before being baked. Chock full of dried fruit, it's very moist, rich and rather sweet. As you can see, mine looked like it was rather dense, but it didn't taste heavy, possibly due to all the fruit.



You could use any dried fruit - I used a mixture of apricots, sultanas and dried apple. I didn't have any mixed spice either, so used a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

I took some to work, and popped them into the sandwich press before spreading the slices with butter. It smelt SO GOOD and was a great morning tea snack, particularly with a strong cup of tea. I thought the loaf was a touch too sweet, but spreading on loads of butter helped!




Blacksmith's Tea Loaf

From Linda Collister's Quick Breads

Makes 1 medium loaf

300ml strong black tea
115g unsalted butter
350g mixed dried fruit
2 teaspoons ground mixed spice
100g light muscovado sugar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
225g spelt flour or plain wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 450g loaf tin.

Put the tea in a non-reactive saucepan that is large enough to hold all the ingredients. Add the butter, fruit, spice, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Set over medium heat and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.

Add the flour and baking powder to the pan and mix briefly, then stir in the eggs. When thoroughly mixed, scrape the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.

Bake for about 40 minutes until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool, then turn out and remove the lining paper. Cute into thick slices to serve.

Best eaten within 4 days. Can be frozen for up to one month.

Old-fashioned maple bran muffins

I've been on the look out for baking recipes that aren't too sweet to eat at morning tea. The recipe for these maple bran muffins appealed because the recipe doesn't contain sugar (but it does have 4 tablespoons of maple syrup). The original recipe asked for pecans, and instead I substituted with dried apricots. I thought that the dried apricots worked well, as they gave a bit of fruity sweetness to the nuttiness of the bran. I tried another batch using banana – and this was a big FAIL. I know that I liked the recipe because I didn't want something that was too sweet, but the banana batch just wasn't sweet enough. They were just too damn healthy tasting!



Old-fashioned maple bran muffins

Adapted from Linda Collister's Quick Breads

Makes 12 medium muffins

225g sour cream
125ml milk
75g wheat bran
35g wheat germ
1 large egg, beaten
4 tablespoons maple syrup
125g plain white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt
100g dried apricots, chopped into small pieces (or 100g chopped pecans)
a little demerara or coarse sugar for sprinkling

In a large bowl combine the sour cream with the milk, then stir in the wheat bran and wheat germ and leave to soak for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 180°C.

Stir in the egg and maple syrup into the sour cream mixture. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt on to the mixture and mix in. Stir in the apricots

Spoon the mixture into muffin moulds. Sprinkle each muffin with a little sugar and then bake for about 25 minutes until firm to the touch.

Turn out on to a wire cooling rack. Eat the same day while still warm, or the next day gently reheated. Can be frozen for up to a month.

Breakfast Bars

These are very tasty, and, I do actually eat them for breakfast! Generally I make a double batch and freeze the majority after I've cut them into bars. If I want one in the morning I take a bar out the night before and let it defrost in the fridge.

I'm not sure if they make a healthy breakfast, but I always feel virtuous eating something with oats so I tell myself it is. And even if it's not that healthy... well... everything's relative and it surely wouldn't be as bad as a danish, donut or fry up! (Not that I eat danishes or donuts for breakfast! And only the occasional fry up.)

I no longer know where I got the original recipe from (somewhere on the interwebs) and have made a couple of adaptations. Any dried fruit would work well, but I especially love the taste of the prunes in these bars.

Ingredients:

150g butter
175g (1/2 cup) honey
200g (2 cups) rolled oats
60g (1 cup) shredded coconut
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
200g (3/4 cup) pitted prunes, chopped
100g (2/3 cup) dried apricots, chopped
75g (1/2 cup) sultanas
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 170c. Line a 23 x 32 cm sandwich tin with baking paper.

Put the butter & honey in a small pan over medium heat & stir until butter has melted.

Toss the oats, coconut, baking powder & sesame seeds together in a large bowl. Add the prunes, peaches & currants & mix well. Add the warm honey mixture & eggs & stir to combine, then spoon evenly into cake tin.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the mixture is cooked through & the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven & allow to cool in the pan before cutting into 12 bars.