Rocket Fuel Granola

 

This is some special granola, folks. Eating a bowl of Rocket Fuel Granola has the potential to provide you with the energy to tackle your toughest workouts, hardest adventures, and hectic days!

Perhaps that's partly hyperbole. During that backpacking trip, where I thought a solid breakfast each  morning was a good idea, I carried four pounds of granola on my back like a newbie. This seems like a terrible idea, especially since we didn't need two four-ounce bags of granola per person, per day, but on the days we ate it, we felt like we could hike for miles. This granola has sticking power, a claim to which I can personally attest. I've asked myself if I would bring it on future trips, and the answer is yes, only less of it.

Rocket Fuel Granola is not just good for hiking, though. Alex often eats it to fuel for his long runs, and we take it to the crag for a day of rock climbing. Unlike oatmeal, I can eat a bowl of this stuff for breakfast and not feel hungry until lunch, or even longer. Granola has long been my favorite breakfast cereal since I can't remember when. Most versions aren't even really healthy, save for the oats, because of its density, but I tend to favor it for its heartiness. Store-bought granola pales in comparison.

homemade quinoa granola

I hadn't planned on blogging about this granola. I made it on a whim for breakfast since cereal isn't very filling and I don't always want to eat eggs (hot oatmeal doesn't do it for me). This is probably the least complicated recipe I've made, but it is one of the best. It has quinoa for a little protein, and is packed with fruit and nuts. I didn't use much much quinoa because I wasn't sure of the proportions, so next time I'll add more.

To make this granola, dry ingredients, minus the dried fruit, are mixed in a large bowl. The wet ingredients, butter, pancake syrup, and a little orange juice, are heated together until the butter is melted, then poured over the oatmeal and mixed until coated thoroughly. Little clusters will begin to form. Simply spread it out on a greased baking sheet and bake for a quick thirty minutes. The granola will be lightly golden.

I like how the clusters of oats are studded with quinoa. The quinoa doesn't have too strong of a taste when it's eaten like this.

I've been craving crunchy granola bars and I just might have to play around with this recipe to see what I can do about it. The quinoa will definitely help with the crunchiness.

When I think of granola I think of crunchy clusters of sweet, crispy oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit. Well, there are clusters here - many of them. It ended up not being as sweet as I expected, but the sweetness of the dried fruit helped out. Instead of using honey like I normally do I subbed it with pancake syrup. That's probably why it wasn't as sweet.

I ate a bowl with Greek yogurt, milk, and fresh fruit. I didn't mind that the granola itself wasn't very sweet because I don't want to ingest a sugar bomb so early in the day anyway. Try it out for yourself if you want a healthy, tasty granola.

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homemade quinoa granola
Recipe by Christina Provo

Yields 4-5 cups

Ingredients -
3 cups quick oats
1/2 cup dry quinoa
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup pancake syrup
1/4 cup butter
3 tablespoons orange juice
pinch of salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup golden raisins

Directions -

1. Preheat oven to 300°. Grease a rimmed baking sheet. In a large bowl, mix together oatmeal, quinoa, and almonds.


2. In a medium, microwavable bowl, heat the pancake syrup with the butter, orange juice, and pinch of salt for 2 minutes on high heat, stirring occasionally until butter melts. Pour over oatmeal mixture and stir until oats are coated and clusters begin to form.


3. Spread evenly onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and stir granola. Bake for an additional 15 minutes; granola should be lightly golden and crisp. Let cool for 10 minutes before mixing with dried fruit.

Pumpkin Spice Granola with Crisco Imported Olive OIl

Fall is all about pumpkin. You'll see it in breads, pies, drinks, and more. You've probably also seen it in oatmeal. I can't do that, because it still tastes a little raw that way, but it does give baked goods a great flavor. So, I created a batch of pumpkin oatmeal. This granola is packed full of oat clusters, nuts, pepita seeds, and dried fruit, and will be the highlight of your breakfast.

Since the granola I make has oil, I used Crisco Imported Light Tasting Olive Oil instead of vegetable oil. I received these bottles from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, only they arrived a month after the deadline to post a recipe. However, being grateful for still having received them, I wanted to use the products in a recipe. Olive oil has many benefits, and by using it in granola you have an even healthier start to the day.

The light tasting olive oil is neutral in flavor, making it perfect for baked goods. A too pronounced olive taste, like from extra virgin, just wouldn't pair well with the sweet flavors here.

Along with the olive oil, brown sugar, honey, pumpkin puree and egg whites are mixed to create the glaze that coats the oats. Following the recipe I made for my Holy Grail Granola, vanilla extract and baking soda were stirred after removing the mixture from the heat.

Like with my other recipe, I used a combination of old fashioned oatmeal and coarsely ground oatmeal, since I didn't have quick oats. The finer oats help create the clusters. Wheat bran was added to give it more nutrition, and can be substituted with wheat germ or flax seed meal. For crunch, I chopped up walnuts and tossed in raw pepita seeds. The green color adds nice pop alongside the dried cranberries that are added later.

Since you can't have pumpkin without spices (well, you can, but it wouldn't be the pumpkin we all know and love), cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves are stirred into the oats. It smelled great then, but it smelled even better as it baked!

Stir in the liquids and watch as clumps of oats begin to form while mixing it all together. After its baked and cooled, the oatmeal crisps up. Dried cranberries are stirred in at the very end. This would also be tasty with dried cherries or blueberries, too.

Now that's my kind of pumpkin oatmeal.

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Pumpkin Spice Granola
Recipe by Christina Provo

A delicious autumnal granola flavored with pumpkin and spices

Yields many 1/2 cup servings

Ingredients -

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal
2 cups quick oats (or old fashioned oats, coarsely ground)
1/2 cup wheat bran or germ
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raw pepita seeds
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/2 cup light olive oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
12 ounces dried cranberries

Directions -

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Lightly coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the oatmeal, wheat bran, nuts and seeds; stir in the spices until dry ingredients are evenly coated.


2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the brown sugar, honey, pumpkin puree, and oil until combined. Cook just until mixture begins to simmer, and brown sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in the vanilla and baking soda.


3. Pour wet ingredients into the bowl with the oats. Using a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula, stir until the oats are thoroughly coated. Pour out onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or until granola is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely. When granola has cooled, mix in the dried cranberries.

Holy Grail Granola

So I've been on a bit of a granola kick. I don't enjoy a steaming hot bowl of oats during the summer (when it's hot), especially after running, and since I have been lackluster when it comes to breakfast ideas (waffles everyday is a fun idea that I get sick of) my best option is to bake a batch of granola that'll last me for long enough to not have to think about breakfast until it's gone.

And this is it. The best granola of 2010. I finally bought the proper ingredients and I mixed this and that together to come up with a granola that turned out exactly how I wanted. Granola clusters mixed with two nuts and one seed, plus some dried cranberries. All this is coated with a sweet honey-brown sugar mixture that transforms the mixture from dried to candied. Yeah, definitely not the healthiest granola on the block, but that wasn't my aim.

What I did differently with this recipe was make a sugared coating with the pecans, pepita seeds, and almonds consisting of a lightly beaten egg white, and sugar mixed with grated orange zest. I debated between baking it separately and mixing it into the oat mixture after it baked, but I wanted everything to be combined so I added the nuts to the oats after I mixed the oats with the oil, honey, brown sugar, and salt. I chose not to use orange juice in the syrup because it makes the oats soggy and requires longer baking time to dry out. I also used a mixture of whole oats and quick oats since I read that the quick oats makes better clumps.

Oh yeah. Whilst heating the syrup up in a saucepan I started thinking of caramel corn, and how you add baking soda to the caramel syrup after it reaches the correct temperature. I don't know why, but perhaps it aids in a harder coating without soggifying the popcorn. I decided to add a bit, about a 1/4 teaspoon, just for the sake of experimentation. Although I'm not sure if it helped, the consistency of the finished granola turned out exactly how I wanted and in the future I will not leave out the baking soda.

Because I finally made a successful granola recipe, I'm naming this "Holy Grail Granola", because it's entirely worthy of such a name. The oaty clusters are delicious with the dried cranberries, and it's still not so sweet that I'd only want to eat it with ice cream. This remains my favorite summer breakfast with fresh fruit and protein powder mixed into the milk.

Recipe after the jump.

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Holy Grail Granola
Recipe by Christina Provo

Makes a ton

ingredients ~

3 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups quick oats
1/2 cup wheat bran
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup raw pepita seeds
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 eggs white
1/4 cup granulated sugar
grated zest of two oranges
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butte
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
12 ounce bag dried, sweetened cranberries

directions ~

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside. Mix oats and wheat bran together in a large bowl. Whisk egg white in a medium bowl until just frothy, then stir in pecans, pepita seeds, and almonds to coat. Mix sugar together with orange zest in a small bowl, pressing with a fork to release oils and tint the sugar. Sprinkle over nuts-egg white mixture and stir to coat thoroughly; set aside.


2. Place oil, honey, brown sugar, butter, and salt in a small saucepan. Over medium heat, heat until brown sugar has dissolved and butter has melted. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Stir in baking soda and whisk until completely mixed (it will resemble liquidy brain matter until it blends together to form a tan, foamy mixture).


3. Pour over oats and stir until evenly saturated with oil-sugar syrup. Stir in nut mixture until mixed. Spread on baking sheet and place in oven. Lower heat to 325ª and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Lower oven to 300ª and cook for another 15 minutes until a deep golden brown. Remove from heat and place baking sheet on cooling rack. Stir once more, then let cool completely. Once cooled, break up granola, leaving many small clumps, and mix with dried cranberries. Store in a covered container or a zip-loc bag.

simple granola

Today is the last day to vote for me in the Recipe Rivalry! I really appreciate everyone's support this week in voting for me, and I hope you guys can spread the word one last time for a final voting push.

I've been having trouble with breakfast lately. The temperature has been heating up, and the last thing I want to start my day off with is a bowl of steaming oats. Instead, I could opt for a plate of steaming eggs. No. Or a heavy plate of pancakes. Pass. Waffles? For some reason that seems like a lot of trouble for a midweek breakfast. Clearly, my remaining option was to bake some granola.

In fact, granola is my favorite meal because it combines the best of crunchy cereal with the sticking power of oats. I still haven't perfect my recipe, but most of the formulas I've come up with have turned out tasty. For this recipe in particular, I used up the remaining pepita seeds I had and added sliced almonds and wheat germ. Since I hadn't any syrup or honey, I made a quick simple syrup with freshly squeezed orange juice and brown sugar. With the grated zest of the oranges mixed with the oats, the taste is light and citrusy and perfect for summer.

It seems that I never all the add ins I want when I make granola, or I purposely make granola when all I have are nuts and oranges. I would have liked unsweetened coconut flakes, an assortment of dried fruit, or some sort of COFFEE INGREDIENT! (I just got a brilliant idea to test out.) However, I liked how this batch turned out with the taste of the pepita seeds.

I've heard many people praise the taste of Greek yogurt, though I haven't tried it until today. Really good stuff! I loved the thicker, richer taste, though I added a bit of milk since that's how I wanted to serve it. And nothing pairs better with granola than fruit that's in season. I went with raspberries and strawberries for today's bowl.

Recipe after the jump

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orangey granola
Recipe by Christina Provo

ingredients ~

2/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
5 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup pepita seeds
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 tsp cinnamon
grated zest of two oranges
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil

directions ~

1. Preheat oven to 325° and spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray; set aside. In a small saucepan, bring orange juice and brown sugar to a boil. Boil for 1 minute; remove from heat and let cool.


2. Mix together everything from the oats to the salt in a large bowl, making sure the ingredients are well distributed. Stir in the orange juice syrup and the vegetable oil and toss until the oats are thoroughly coated. Spread evenly onto baking sheet.


3. Bake granola for a total of 45-55 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. You're looking for an even golden tone and the oats should no longer feel wet. Remove from the oven and let granola cool on baking sheet to room temperature. Place in a container.

Can be stored, covered, for 1 week