Granola, and why I was so stupid for purchasing it all these years.

Granola.  It's basically rolled oats, nuts, and dried fruit coated in something sweet.  I have bought this stuff for years.  I love it in yogurt, in a bowl, with milk or soy.  It's delicious.  So, this week, for my job, I was planning on making granola with the kids for our creative kitchen project.  The easiest way to do this is to make the granola, and have the kids mix up their own.  I even got dried fruits at the program so they could mix and match.  The one thing that I took away from this little project is how incredibly easy it is to make this stuff!  I seriously feel like a dumb ass for buying it all these years.

In a large mixing bowl combine 3 cups of rolled oats with 3/4 cup of sweetened coconut and 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp of brown sugar.

In a mixing cup combine 1/4 cup of canola oil with 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp of maple syrup.

Pour into the dry stuff, and mix up.

Bake in a 250 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Once baked, let it cool, and mix in your fruits, nuts, whatever you'd like.

SO EASY!  How could I have been so blind?  Well, I can tell you that from now on I'll be making this rather than buying.  I hope you found this as informative as I did, and I hope you will try this on your own.  With all of the different flavor combinations you can really play around with it.

Negligence, Resurgence, Brownies

I will admit, I have been very negligent in my duties for Baking Adventures.  It has been nearly a month, and I don't want to bore you with the details of my hectic life, so I'll just show you what I baked this week!

I love brownies, and I usually make them during the holidays (with a bit of brandy).  I have been wanting brownies for a while, but I don't like buying them from a store, or even a coffee shop where it's been wrapped in plastic all day.  they're always so dry, and I like a moist brownie with a crisp top.

First melt a stick of butter with 4 oz of unsweetened chocolate.

Add 1 cup of white sugar and 1 1/3 cup brown sugar, mix to incorporate.

Add 1 1/4 cup of flour and mix.

Next, beat 2 eggs with 2 tsp of vanilla.  Add this to the mix and stir.

Line your baking pan with parchment paper, and pour the mix into it.  Flatten this out.

And for a finishing touch, I sprinkled some white chocolate chips on top.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Let it cool, then chop it up!  This makes about 1 dozen.

Enjoy!