morning blues
I'm learning that the process to making granola is an art form. There's a lot of free form involved, and also, a lot of boiling, coating and mixing. And a lot of patience. For example, you can add whatever you like--oatmeal, flaxseed meal, vanilla, honey, molases, brown sugar. Whatever you have in hand, really. This time the added goodies were sunflower seeds and leftover dried persimmons my mom got for me from the Alhambra farmers' market. Once the wet ingredients have been boiled, you pour the hot concoction over your dry ingredients (leaving out dried fruits for last.)
With a spatula or what your mama gave you, your hands, mix each little grain, seed and morsel to ensure that it's well coated. Lay out a piece of foil on a baking tray and spread out an even coat. This is where discipline and patience come in. It helps to take out the granola every ten minutes and stir it up so that the other half gets even baking time on top. You have to be quick and smooth so that you get the granola back in the oven. I do this about four times and without burning the granola (keep in mind, it'll still be soft), you're done. The granola will get crispy on its own for about twenty minutes out of the oven. Scoop some yogurt with a generous helping of fresh blueberries and homemade granola, and voila!
* I loosely based my granola on this recipe. I cut everything in half (and it still makes tons). Don't feel intimidated by the ingredients. Wheat germ, oat bran, pistachios and almonds weren't in the pantry and I still did alright. I replaced the vegetable oil with half a stick of butter and instead of using sugar, oil and maple syrup, I used brown sugar, honey and a little molases. This is one of those recipes you change and perfect over time.
