Friday, December 10, 2010

Get Your Crunches In



All I want for Christmas is……….Granola! And maybe a few other items?! This recipe is an easy one to whip up and is sure to delight the taste buds! This is an excellent, healthy, packable snack. It’s great on cereal, fantastic sprinkled on ice cream and just darn delicious to munch!

I found this recipe in one of my favorite new books, “The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen, by Terri Edwards and Serena Thompson. It’s a great book, with several tasty recipes and great country decorating tips. It’s given me inspiration in my decorating scheme and revived my love of all things “retro”!

As I mentioned yesterday, this tasty treat could be poured into pint or quart sized jars, wrapped with a festive ribbon and given as gifts. It also makes a great snack for your holiday gatherings and best of all………it’s healthy. I find the nuts to be especially grounding and can help counterbalance all the sugar that is being ingested in the next three weeks!

Happy Crunching!

6 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
2 cups pecan halves
1/3 cup canola oil
½ cup packed brown suagar
½ cup crunchy peanut butter
½ cup honey
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the granola: Heat the oven to 325 F. Combin the oats, coconut, and peacans in a large mixing bowl. Combine the oil, brown sugar, peanut butter, honey, cinnamon and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until smooth. Pour over the oat mixture and stir until well combined.

Bake the granola: Line a large shallow baking pan with foil. Speak the mix in the pan. Bake until browned, about 50 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes with a large spatula. Cool in the pan on a wire rack; then stir once more. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks (but it probably won’t last that long!)

*I make two batches at the same time, just because I had a feeling it would go fast……..and I was right. I make this for BS’s preschool snack and it was a big hit. I also took it up to my family’s house when I went for a visit. My brother stole the bag, thinking it was all his. Our friend, Heath, then stole it from him! And somehow, a small amount of it ended up coming home with me……..how it got back in my cooler is a total mystery………..!

This is a great recipe to keep in mind for the summer months as well. Instead of buying expensive trail mix, mix up this instead and then add other ingredients according to your personal tastes! (I prefer butter brickle bits in it when I'm hiking!)

Enjoy~

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