Southern girl plowing her way through life making the rules up as she goes. Warning: likes to bake, curse, quote movies/literature, is tattooed, married to The Man and mother of two girls. We bring new meaning to the "griswald way of life". Come along for the ride!



Saturday, August 30, 2008

From Heaven to You

It's not P-Dub so don't expect too much in the way of cooking photos, but for those of you interested, I've documented my super duper granola recipe today.

Since going Gluten-Free, I've had a hard time finding snacks so in desparation for sweet morning foods, I scoured the internet for the perfect recipe. And after the first batch, I revamped it and made my own.

Which rocks, if The Man and the girls are asked.

Start with the ingredients.
Gluten-Free oats (sold with it marked on top, usually at a organic store but my local grocery actually carries a teeny tiny GF section), banana chips (optional), carmel bits (optional), nuts, honey, peanut butter, vanilla, brown sugar, chocolate chips (high quality chocolate is GF)) and cooking spray. (I really like Great Value - Walmart brands as they list ALL their products either Gluten-Free or Wheat included). Globe is optional, I personally think it adds texture.


So first you take 2 cups of oats and 1 cup of nuts and toast them in an oven at 400 degrees. Till toasty, once the oven is preheated it is less than 10 minutes, watch them closely as The Man has had to dispose of two separate trays of burnt oats........ :) I'm not a perfect cook.

This is nice and toasty looking oats. Perfecto!
Sit them aside and reseat your oven to 350 degrees. While that is resetting, in a very old saucepan, mix half a cup of honey with 1/4 cup of brown sugar.......to make the goop. The mix that will hold it all together.
While that is mixing, keep stiring it and then spray your equally old stained but clean pan with cooking spray.
You should have a roaring bowl that looks all foamy when your goop is ready. At this point add 1/3 teaspoon (or just a generous tip of the bottle) into the pan and remove from heat. Give it a quick stir and take off stove.
Our it into a bowl and then mix in half a cup of peanut butter, briskly stir and when the goop becomes very thick........


Toss in the oats and nuts.......mix well as it's best mixed when hot. Coat all the oats/nuts well.
Chop your banana chips into small pieces.......
Add marshmellows if you're my children, and carmel bits.......oh yum, very healthy
When coat with the hot oat mixture........cover well
Once completely covered..........

Mush into place...........
Sprinkle with chocolate chips and then throw it in the oven..........
Have a snack while you're waiting..............
Check the mixture.........it should be slightly golden brown and chocolate melted.........about 5 minutes
Then take it out and let slightly cool before you cut into bars. Then toss it into a ziplock bag and keep in the fridge. No preservatives means it will go badly very quickly.
Enjoy! We make this is vast quantities and often the past month.