179. Maple Apricot Granola (p. 626)

After I made the Oatmeal Coconut Raspberry Bars, I had a lot of old-fashioned oats leftover, and I was looking for something to do with them. Since I haven't cooked much from the Breakfast and Brunch chapter yet, I decided to make this recipe.

The hardest part about this recipe was gathering all of the ingredients. Some of the components, like the aforementioned oats, and and some green pumpkin seeds (leftover from the Green Bean Salad with Pumpkin Seed Dressing), I already had on hand. For the rest of the ingredients, I went to the bulk aisle at Whole Foods. I bagged up a little scoop of flax seeds, a big bag of sliced almonds, some unroasted, unsalted hulled sunflowers seeds, some dried apricots and crystallized ginger.

The rest of the recipe is really easy. Just whiz up the flax seeds in a spice grinder, and mix them with the oats, almonds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. Next, I added some canola oil, pure maple syrup, and a little salt. I spread the mixture evenly on two baking sheets and put them in the oven for about a half-hour. About halfway through the cooking time, I stirred the granola and switched the position of the pans. While it cooked, the kitchen was filled with a great toasty, maple-y aroma. I was getting hungry already. I took the granola out of the oven, and while it cooled, I chopped up the dried apricots and the crystallized ginger and then mixed it in with the granola.

This was delicious granola. It was crunchy, chewy, sweet, but not too sweet. The Book says that the ginger is optional, but I couldn't imagine this granola without it's sparkling spicy kick. The maple flavor is subtle and a nice change of pace. We enjoyed this on yogurt (dairy- and soy-free coconut milk yogurt for my wife) for breakfast or a snack. Excellent. It was so easy, that I'll definitely try it again, and next time, I'll mix it up. Maybe I'll use dried cranberries instead of the apricots. I'll use walnuts or pecans instead of the almonds. The variations are pretty much endless.

This recipe makes a lot of granola, about ten cups. The Book says that it can be frozen, so I divided it into two large zip-top bags. One to eat now, and one to go in the freezer for later.

Date Cooked: July 11, 2009
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: B+