In the 7th Grade we had pen-pals. My pen-pal wanted to know my favorite food. Without hesitation I wrote (1) Vanilla Yogurt with Granola and (2) Snickers. I still love granola, but am often disappointed by the fat/calories/sugar/taste of many brands, so I don’t explore packaged brands that much anymore. 

Anyway, one day, I just decided to make my own and I’ve been experimenting ever since. This is my first batch since the blog – once again blogging is super because now I am actually writing down what I did to make it! What I’ve learned in the course of my granola making is this:

(1) honey and/or juice plus water make great sweeteners; 

(2) a little vanilla or cinnamon goes a long way; 

(3) melty peanut butter is easier to work with than “cold” pb;

(4) turn your granola;

(5) low heat is best because granola easily burns;

(6) add things like chocolate chips or raisins in at the end, trail mix style;

(7) remove from the oven before you think it’s ready, the crunch will come when cooled; and

(8) what you make will be better and cheaper than what you can buy!

Starting with Lesson 1, juice makes a great sweetener. The granola doesn’t actually taste like juice, but rather subtly carries a sweet flavor of whatever juice you used.  I’ve used Juicy Juice Fruit Punch, Apple Juice and White Grape Juice in the past with great results. Today I used Zola Acai Pineapple Juice as the only sweetener and the result was fantastic!

Acai Pineapple Granola

Ingredients

2 Cups Oats

1 Cup Roasted Unsalted Almonds* 

1 Cup Dried Cranberries 

6 T Juice

2 T Water

2 t Cinnamon 

2 t Ground Flax

Procedure

Granola is so easy to make: Preheat oven to 300* Mix everything you want to bake in a bowl. For me this included everything but half the cranberries (I like how they get crunchy when baked, but also like them fresh). Make sure it’s all covered with the liquid, but not soppy wet. Spread onto baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes. Make sure to rotate the granola while baking!    It’s done when it’s no longer wet and slightly crunchy, but it will not be as crunchy as packaged granola. It will get crunchier when it cools, but it doesn’t have butter or added sugar, so it’s won’t be quite the same texture as you might be used to.  After removing from the oven, add the rest of the cranberries and an extra shake of cinnamon. 

I enjoyed my granola atop some plain Chobani Greek Yogurt. Try it yourself! 

*I am not just saying this because Oh! Nuts sent me these, but these were the best almonds I’ve ever had. They were obviously fresh. They were crisp, aromatic and not too dry, like almonds sometimes are. I can’t get over it!

Thank you for the well wishes. You are so kind. Are you this nice in real life? Anyway, I am feeling much better. I would say about 77% back to my old self, which for me, is not well enough to run, but well enough to bake. I know I will be able to run the 5k next week, but it just stinks being sick, ya know? I’ve heard that teachers get sick and I think I am feeling that. Along with teaching, I’ve been traveling every weekend and staying up too late. I need to remember to rest.

Cranberries + Walnuts

I was feeling up for a little baking. I used more of the dried cranberries I received from Oh! Nuts and some of their walnuts as well to make a healthy and delicious Cranberry Walnut Quick Bread. I liked these walnuts because they were fresh. You know sometimes when you buy walnuts and they are funny smelling and dry? These were not like that. They were almost still soft, like right from the shell.  The only thing I would advise is that my loaf only too about 45 minutes at 350*. Also, I didn’t use buttermilk or orange zest and I used dried cranberries, not fresh. The highlight was definitely the toasted walnuts … or the plump cranberries.

See the toasted walnuts?

Soup + Spinach Nuggests

I wanted chicken soup to make me feel better, but being a quasitarian, I had to find another option. I think Mark faced a similar dilemma during Meatless Month. My solution was to use some vegetable broth and stick everything in it that I thought might contribute to curing me and boosting my immunity in the future. My combination was veggie broth + diced tomatoes (no salt added) + spinach + kidney beans + carrots. I also had some Veggie Patch Spinach Nuggets, which contain maltodextrin (see below).  These lil nuggets were fantastic. Very crispy on the outside and nice and mushy on the inside.

HMCS

The other day an actual non-relative reader emailed me and Mark to ask us a question about High Maltose Corn Syrup. Specifically, said reader found high maltose corn syrup on the ingredient list of a (free) Fiber One Bar and wanted to know if this was the same as high fructose corn syrup, which the bar also contains. I didn’t know a thing about maltose, but appreciate being asked a question and set out to do some investigation.

Here is a list of what I learned and two of the links where I found my information.

Maltose, also known as malt sugar, is made of two glucose molecules.

Maltose is not as sweet as fructose.

Our bodies have the maltase enzyme that break down maltose into its two glucose molecules, which are bodies digest.

High Maltose Corn Syrup a processed product; a corn syrup rich in maltose (like HFCS is rich in fructose)

High Maltose Corn Syrup is like the more common label ingredient “maltodextrin,” but maltodextrin can be made from starches other than corn.

High Maltose Corn Syrup often found in baked goods and beer to sweeten and improve the shelf life of these products.

Bottom line: It’s a processed corn syrup product, so take that information and proceed as you wish.

Center for Science in the Public Interest

A Life Less Sweet