For the past two years, I’ve been making my own energy food for when I’m cycling. They’re pretty much just high calorie granola bars, but boy are they good. Whenever I bring a batch to the track in the summer, they’re usually gone before the first race is over. Everyone eats them up and asks for the recipe (something I’m not good at giving—not because I want to keep it secrete, but because I hate writing out the recipe on the spot).
Anyways, being a master of the granola bar (if I do say so myself), I have never made plain ol’ granola…that is until this week. My mom had given me an article from her local paper about making granola quite some time ago but when it came home with me, it lost itself in a stack of papers. However, recently I pulled it out and gave the recipe a gander. I had most of the ingredients: oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, oil, salt and I talked about my shopping trip for the remaining few items in my last post (mainly the maple syrup).
In the article they list a few extra ingredients to add for different flavors (nothing any semi-creative type wouldn’t think of on his or her own with some time). Devon thought it would be great to add cherries and almonds, so we did (I also added some coconut—hence the title). The first batch was made sticking strictly to the recipe. After I pulled it out of the oven and let it cool, I noticed it lacked nice, crisp clumps. Crisp yes, but clumps no. I was slightly bothered by this since the lack of clumps meant it would have to be eaten in a bowl instead of hand-to-mouth. Nonetheless, the taste was really great. I made it Sunday afternoon and the entire quart was gone by Tuesday. This meant I would have to make another quart to get me though the week.
For the second quart, I used the same recipe, only I used half the amount of maple syrup and used the same amount of molasses. I thought this might make it stick better and perhaps make it even crunchier. When I pulled it out of the oven and let it cool, I noticed my hypothesis was correct. The great thing was the molasses didn’t affect the taste at all. This morning, after my bike ride, I stopped by the Green Market at Prospect Park and bough some Ronnybrook Farms yogurt and an apple pocket. When I got home, Devon and I topped the yogurt with some of the granola and it was fantastic. I can’t wait for summer when we can eat the same thing, only with summer berries.
Perhaps some of the reason why there is still granola left over is because yesterday morning Devon and I made pancakes. Now let me say something (I may have said this before, but let me say it again) I love rustic, heavy pancakes. If I’m in the mood for a light, golden griddlecake, I’ll go to Mike’s Diner. Sticking with the theme of cherries, almonds and coconut, I added all three to the pancakes. I usually use a ratio of 1:2 cream and milk but I’ve been trying to lay off the cream these days. However, everything else stayed the same—oats, oat bran, bread flour, eggs, milk and a little oil. (Jared once made me waffles with coconut oil and they were amazing, I really wish I had some to use with these pancakes). Oh, in memory of the granola, I threw some wheat germ in the batter for good measure.
The batter was a bit lighter than I would have liked. I think it was the lack of cream. With the pancakes cooked up and Dev armed with her coffee, we were set for a day of cupcake making. To Be Continues…
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