Maple Granola

Do you think there is a support group for 'bakoholics'? If yes, maybe I should join that group. I have had many fancies in my life, all of which lasted couple of months at the most. At one point, I was into sewing. All I would imagine is sewing different things. I am not complaining, I still sew and that knowledge comes in handy. Then it was singing. I had to learn every (not literally) song that Latha Mangeshkar has sung. This moved towards classical music soon making me learn numerous Carnatic classicals from M.S to T.N.S to Sudha Raghunathan etc. I am just giving an example. Even though I do not lose touch with any of the things I have learnt, the fancy does fade away. But 'baking?', nope. It was there 10 years back and it is there now. I think it has increased over the years since I get more guinea pigs now. If you know me in person, I apologize for calling you that, but aren't you happy you know me in person? My experiments rarely go bad.

When Madhuram sent me the 'King Arthur Whole Grain Baking' book, I was thinking that I might try one or two recipes from that book and that's it. Do you want to know how many I have tried and blogged about in less than 4 months? Check it out yourself.

Molasses Rye Ragi Snaps
Cranberry Pull Apart Buns
Cranberry Orange Rice Muffins
Rieska

And there are some that I did not blog about. And now, this 'Maple Granola' cereal. I have cut down the original recipe in half and used the grains, nuts and dry fruits that I had on hand. To tell you the truth, this is not the first time I am making granola at home. I just didn't follow a recipe from a book. You can change the nuts, dry fruits. Use honey instead of maple syrup. Use some other spice instead of cinnamon. Use your imagination.

Ingredients:

• Old fashioned rolled oats - 3 1/2 cups
• Wheat germ - 1 cup (I used this instead of the other nuts. Don't want too much of nuts in my cereal)
• Walnuts - 1 cup chopped
• Toasted Flax seeds - 1/2 cup (This was not there in the original recipe. I added to make it healthier)
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Powdered cinnamon - 1 tsp
• Maple syrup - 1/2 cup
• Vegetable Oil - 6 TBSP
• Vanilla - 2 tsp
• Dried Cranberries - 1 1/2 cups

Method:
Preheat the oven to 300 F. (Book says to do at 250 for 2 hours) That is too much so I baked at 300 F for one hour. But check at 45 minutes. Some of my cranberries had become hard. Line a large baking sheet with rim with aluminum foil. Spray vegetable oil spray. Keep aside. Take a large bowl and spray that and a spatula with vegetable oil spray. Place all the dry ingredients in the bowl. Mix well. In another bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, vanilla. Pour on to the bowl with dry ingredients and stir to combine. Dump all of the mixture on to the baking sheet and spread thinly. Place in the oven and after 30 minutes, stir once and rotate the pan. Check at 45 minutes and if it is golden and toasted well, remove from the oven. Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack till completely cool. Transfer to an air tight container. This not only tastes better than store bought granola, but also low in sugar and fat compared to the store bought. Enjoy as dry snack or morning cereal with milk.

This is my entry to 'Baking from a book - Breakfast' hosted by me here.

Happy Baking!! Pin It