Thursday, February 19, 2009

CEiMB - Nutty Granola aka Hide the Milk



This week's recipe for Craving Ellie in My Belly is Nutty Granola. Amazingly, I had everything I needed in my pantry for this one. This is all you need...



I chopped the nuts and dried cherries (which I subbed for the raisins). I dumped everything in a glass bowl (I like to be able to peek at the bottom to see if I thoroughly mixed everything together). Then I poured on the maple syrup...



Stir, stir, stir.

Ellie says to spray a baking sheet with cooking spray before spreading the granola evenly on the baking sheet. This had me very conflicted. I still have some post traumatic stress from spending two days cleaning my broiler pan after the sesame-teriyaki chicken thighs. I pondered using a silicone mat to ease clean up, but I was worried that the granola wouldn't brown properly. I ended up using cooking spray, which worked fine.

The granola baked for 30 minutes, filling the house with a wonderful aroma. When it came out of the oven it looked amazing...


I waited (impatiently) for it to cool enough to have it for breakfast. Finally, I spooned some in a bowl and anointed it with milk. Mmm...delicious! It's not overly sweet like most commercial granolas, nor is it so hard my jaw hurt after eating it. The maple and cinnamon are subtle and don't overpower the nuts. Yum. This is so good...have another small bowl. I mean, I do plan to work out today. No, really.

This week was my turn to pick the recipe. I found it to be a humbling experience. I wanted to pick something that didn't have expensive ingredients, wouldn't take a lot of time or be overly complicated, and was family friendly. I enjoyed making this, and I hope you will, too! Here's the recipe:

Nutty Granola - Serves 9

You can't buy granola this good, and it couldn't be simpler to make. All the flavors come through crisp and clear: crunchy toasted nuts, chewy oats, and caramelized raisins perfectly sweetened with the unmistakable flavor of real maple syrup and humming with cinnamon.

Cooking spray
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins (optional, I used dried cherries instead)
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients, mixing well to coat everything with the maple syrup. Spread on the baking sheet and bake until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Transfer the sheet to the wire rack and let cool completely. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about 2 weeks.


I will definitely make this one again. I would like to try it with some pumpkin seeds, dried apple, orange zest, vanilla caviar, but not all at the same time. Check out what the other CEiMB cooks did here. If you like this recipe, I urge you to check out the book The Foods You Crave, by Ellie Krieger.


13 comments:

Jessica said...

I knew I'd love this one (as I've made it before), but I'd forgotten just how great this granola recipe is! Thanks for reminding me!

Anonymous said...

We always enjoy granola but have found it usually has too much sugar in it. This recipe was perfect! I used it in so many ways. Great pick!

Aggie said...

I'm so happy you picked this recipe! The granola was great...and yes, oh so easy!! I was very impatient and munching on warm granola.

Cathy said...

Oh, did we ever love your pick, Leslie!!! I am more excited about this recipe than I've been about any in a long time, just because I can really see myself making it over and over again. It is just so easy and so incredibly delicious. AWESOME pick, and yours looks great!

Unknown said...

Great pick Leslie, I think everyone loved this recipe. FYI - I used a Silpat to bake mine and it came out great. I love your picture with the glass milk bottle, so cute. (I also noticed that the milk is from Straus Family Creamery. I'm jealous. We are lucky just to be able to get their butter here on the East Coast.)
Sara/Imafoodblog

Mary Ann said...

Leslie,
Thanks for a great pick. I have to agree that it was nice to be able to make something that I already had all the ingredients for. Your looks delicious!

Peggy said...

I love that you "anointed" it with milk!! This was a great pick Leslie. It was really nice to cook with you this week and I loved that it wasn't something that was so complicated for a change. Thank you!

Pamela said...

It was a great pick, Leslie. It's really delicious, now that I've taken out the burnt fruit and added some fresh raisins. I just had some in my yogurt this morning and I don't want to stop! I will definitely be making it again!

Natalie said...

i love granola and Ellie! i'll definitely have to give this one a try.

What's for Supper? said...

GREAT CHOICE. Probably my favorite so far from this cookbook!

Anonymous said...

This was my favorite pick so far. Thank you so much. Loved it - a little too much

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Homemade granola is the best, and this recipe looks really good. No added oil - that's a plus. I don't like those super sweet granolas either. Great job!
Nancy

Dharm said...

Homemade Granola! Just fantastic!