Coconut Maple Granola
February 18th, 2012 § 12 Comments
Good Morning Everyone! 
Who’s ready for a fabulous long weekend? I know I am!
This weekend is going to be an exciting and relaxing one for me. Today will be filled with hair, make-up, and nails in preparation for my school’s annual Cotillion dance tonight and then I am free to chill out for the next two days. I don’t even have that much homework!
This morning I woke up with a hankering for homemade granola. No biggie, I thought. I got washed and dressed and got right to work!
Granola is actually one of my favorite things to make. It’s mess-free, easy to prepare, and can be made in under an hour. Plus you can adapt it to whatever you have on hand and it’s virtually fail-proof. Unless you burn the granola…I may or may not have done that a few times. 
Coconut Maple Granola
“Coconut maple is my favorite granola flavor because it’s different, yet totally delicious! I like using granola as a topper for yogurt and ice cream! Granola will stay fresh in an air-tight container for up to 3 months!”
Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
- ½ cup puffed rice cereal (like Rice Krispies!)
- ½ cup roasted cashews
- ½ cup roasted almonds
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 275º Fahreneheit. Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir until well combined.
- Place granola on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray or lined with parchment. Bake for 25-30 minutes without stirring!
- Preheat oven to 425º Fahreneheit. Bake granola for an additional 3-5 minutes and enjoy!
Yield: ~3 ½ cups granola
What are your plans for this weekend?
Have you ever made granola before?
The Best Scones I’ve Ever Made
August 13th, 2011 § 27 Comments
So, I hear you want to make really good scones.
Like the buttery, flaky, so-good-it-melts-in-your-mouth kind. The kind that makes you Mmmmm with delight the second you bite into them. Luckily for you I know the secret for perfect scones. You want to know what it is? Biscuit dough.
Like seriously. I take a simple biscuit recipe, preferably a buttery one, and jazz it up with sugar, fresh or dried fruits, chopped nuts, and spices. In this case I used soaked dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, cinnamon, and allspice. Best. Scones. Ever!
Spiced Cranberry Walnut Scones
“There are so many reasons why I call these the best scones I ever made. They are moist and buttery. They are flavorful and spiced to perfection. You might be tempted to skip soaking the cranberries, but I strongly advise against it. Serve the scones warm with a sprinkle of powdered sugar or a drizzle of Cream Cheese Frosting.”
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup softened + 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
Directions:
- Soak dried cranberries in 2/3 cup water overnight. Drain and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a large baking sheet and set aside.
- Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and wisk to combine. Stir in milk, 1/3 cup butter, vanilla, cranberries, and walnuts until a crumbly dough forms. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic.
- Roll the dough into the shape of a circle about ¾ inch thickness and, using a pizza cutter or knife, cut into 6 even triangles. Place triangles on the prepared baking sheet, brush with remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter, and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and enjoy!
Yield: 6 scones
Take a bite. You know you want to!
Blueberry Walnut Muffins
June 20th, 2011 § 37 Comments
It is finally starting to feel like Summer to me.
Since I last posted I ran a 5K with my little brother. I went swimming. I went to the beach with my family. It’s been above 90 degrees outside all weekend. We had a BBQ. I ate mass quantities of Cilantro Lime Guacamole at the BBQ. Oh, and I bought a few pints of blueberries at the Farmer’s Market and baked muffins with them!
Isn’t it, like, the unofficial beginning of Summer when fresh berries hit the stands at the Farmer’s Market?!
For me it is. And these muffins might just become my little way of celebrating it! They are sweet, tender, and bursting with juicy blueberries. If that isn’t the best way to celebrate Summer, then I don’t know what is.
Blueberry Walnut Muffins
“Warm blueberry muffins sprinkled with crunchy walnuts. It’s the perfect way to use up fresh Summer berries!”
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons honey (You could also use agave, brown rice syrup, or maple syrup.)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup blueberries (I roughly chopped mine before adding them to the batter.)
- 2/3 cup walnuts, chopped
- Cinnamon sugar for topping
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a muffin pan with butter or line with paper liners, set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and add the blueberries and half of the walnuts. Fold to incorporate throughly.
- Fill each section in the muffin pan and sprinkle with remaining walnuts and cinnamon sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each muffin comes out clean.
Yield: 12-14 regular-sized muffins
For what was supposed to be an experiment, I cannot believe how good these came out! They actually taste like…Summer! Don’t ask me how. They just do.
So, what are you waiting for? Get out of your seat and make these muffins already! Summer is here! :-P
