The Husband found a super-delicious bag of granola being sold at the bike shop recently- Fit Chick may be pricy, but is definitely worth every penny. It’s delicious. Click the picture (swiped from the Fit Chick web site) to connect with ordering info if you are so inclined…
I’ve been meaning to try a granola recipe that I found and squirreled away on Pinterest, and now I have a great model to imitate- I used a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, tweaked the ratios to make a smaller batch, and added chia seeds and pine nuts to come close to the Fit Chick bag o’ goodness.
Here’s how it went down…
Cherry Almond Granola
makes just over 4 cups
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 tablespoon canola oil
- 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup whole almonds, chopped roughly
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 cup dried cherries
Mix together the first seven ingredients (syrup through the oils). Mix in the oats, almonds, pine nuts and chia seeds. Press into a 13″ x 18″ half sheet baking pan (or a cookie sheet) and bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Watch that the granola doesn’t get too browned! Let cool slightly, break into chunks, mix in the cup of dried cherries and try to keep yourself from eating it all in one sitting.
This was another “Holy Yum” recipe. If I were to rank it, it would be worthy of an 11 out of 10, à la Spinal Tap.
11/18/17 Update: I’ve continued to make and share this awesome recipe, and started adding 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom. Wow, is that a great addition! Another change I’ve made in the recipe is to increase the coconut and canola oil from 1 1/2 tablespoon, each, to two tablespoons, each. I think it needed a bit more of the oil to help keep everything together. And I also realize now that when you bake dried fruit in a granola, the fruit turns into little tough rocks. That’s not good. I’ve learned to mix the fruit in at the end!
branching out... on a limb 