Granola

Hey all you hippies out there, here's a granola recipe I tried recently.
My friend gave me some she had made with this recipe for Christmas, it had been a while since I had enjoyed a bowl of granola for breakfast. I liked her version, it's like a cross between muesli and granola due to the short baking time and small amount of oil. This recipe also has a higher nut to oat ratio which I like. Of course, I have put my own spin on it, changing it a bit here and there. Granola is very forgiving, use what you like in terms of nuts and seeds, add dried fruit after it bakes or leave it out. Allergic to coconut, no big deal,  replace it with something else, like those real hippy foods: flax and chia seeds.

Simple Granola

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats ( not the instant variety)
3/4 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp cardamon (optional)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup dried cranberries added after baking.

1) Preheat the oven to 300 F, prepare a rimmed baking sheet with parchment, silicon baking mat or a light coating of oil.

2) Mix all the dry ingredients including the powdered spices together in a bowl.

3) Add the maple syrup and oil, combine together well.

4) Spread the mixture onto the baking sheet, bake for 10 minutes. Stir and bake for 10 more minutes.

5) Allow to cool, add dried cranberries and store in an airtight container. Enjoy.

In this batch I used some tiny raisins as well as the cranberries.

Here are a couple of other recipes from past posts.

The chocolate holiday

Let's admit it, for some of us, Valentine's Day is just an excuse to indulge in as much chocolate as we can. With that in mind I want to share two of my favorite chocolate desserts.
They will win the heart of any valentine on your list.

First, these very simple and very tasty brownies. I have made them several times this year already.
They were a touchdown at the Super Bowl party I went to !

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies   

Ingredients
    •     ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    •    1/2 cup butter
    •    2 eggs
    •    1 cup sugar
    •    ¼ cup flour
    •    1 cup broken-up walnuts or pecans
    •    1 teaspoon vanilla
    •    pinch of salt

 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8x8 inch pan.

2. Melt butter in saucepan with cocoa and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.

3) Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla.

4) In a separate bowl, combine sugar, flour, nuts, and salt. 

5) Add to the cocoa-butter mixture. Stir until just combined.

6) Pour into a greased 8x8 square pan.  

7) Bake 35-40 minutes. Do not overbake; they should be gooey. 

8) Here comes the hard part...let cool, and cut into bars. It's important to let them cool, as the texture changes.

 

For something a bit fancier, for that special Valentine's day dinner, here's my flourless chocolate cake.

I made this one as the dessert for my Hearts card game party.

 

 

 

Flourless Chocolate Cake

 

Ingredients
4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla and/or almond extract or any liqueur of your choice
1/2 teaspoon salt.

 

1) Preheat oven to 375°F

2) Butter an 8-inch round baking pan. Line bottom with a round of parchment paper and butter paper.

 

3) Chop chocolate into small pieces. 

4) In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, melt chocolate with butter, stirring, until smooth.

5) Remove top of double boiler heat, you can transfer it into a bowl at this point, whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. 

6) Add eggs and whisk well.

7)  Sift 1/2 cup cocoa powder into chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined.

8) Pour batter into pan.

9) Bake in middle of oven 25 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust. 

10) Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and invert onto a serving plate, if you plan to serve it immediately. Be careful it is delicate and crumbles easily. I made mine ahead of time, so after it cooled, I put it in the fridge in the pan. I recommend this.

 

This cake begs for a topping, I decided on vanilla ice cream and boysenberry sauce. It was delightful, tangy and the perfect foil for the chocolate. The heart sugar cookie was my friend's addition ;-) 

 

Orange Food Part 3: Cake !!

It's certainly citrus season around here. I have lots of my Satsuma mandarins and limes, friends and family are sharing their navel orange bounty.  

It's the perfect time to make this very orange cake. I was surprised when I found it several years ago while searching for a vegan orange cake to serve dinner guests, it was from Joy of Cooking !!

I have made it twice already this year.

The cake is delightful, moist, easy and very adaptable.
Very Orange Cake
1 cup orange juice
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
 orange zest from one orange
Glaze
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1-2 teaspoons orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest or tiny curls of peel

1) Preheat the oven 350 F. Grease and flour  a 9 inch round cake pan.

The original recipe called for an 8 inch pan, the first time I made it this year that's what I used, it overflowed the pan while baking...never a good thing, so be sure to go with a 9 inch round cake pan.

The original recipe also stressed the flouring part. I used spray oil and then floured it. I had no trouble removing it from the pan.

2) Grate the orange, and make juice to one cup. I was lucky and already had  a large jar made up.

3) In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients including the zest.

4) in a smaller bowl combine the liquid ingredients.

5) Add the liquid ingredients into the dry, mix just to blend.

6) Pour into the greased and floured pan, bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Do the toothpick trick to test for doneness. It will be a golden brown.

7) Cool for 10 minutes then carefully transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before adding the glaze.
8)  In a small bowl mix 1/4 cup powered sugar, 1 teaspoon zest or tiny curls of peel. Start with 1 teaspoon of juice and add more to get a thick paste.

9) Apply the glaze to cover the top of the cake.

It is the perfect cake for tea time, brunch or dessert after dinner.