The Art of Making Granola: A Recipe to Warm Your Heart and Home
As I stood in my kitchen, surrounded by the comforting aromas of cinnamon, honey, and toasted coconut, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the simple pleasures in life. The soft hum of the oven in the background was a gentle reminder that our homemade granola was almost ready, its sweet and crunchy goodness waiting to be devoured. And as I gazed at the perfectly toasted coconut, sprinkled across the top like a sprinkle of magic dust, I couldn't help but smile.
Now, I know what you're thinking: "Coconut is optional?" Ah, yes! It is indeed optional, and I'm happy to report that it adds an unparalleled depth of flavor and texture to our granola. But don't worry if you choose not to add it – the recipe still holds its own as a delicious and satisfying snack or breakfast accompaniment. However, for those who want to take their granola game to the next level, adding toasted coconut is a game-changer.
As I began assembling my ingredients, I couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia wash over me. The familiar sight of rolled oats, cranberries, Sultana raisins, and pecans brought back memories of lazy Sunday mornings spent lounging on the couch, munching on this very granola. And speaking of which, have you ever noticed how some recipes are just better suited to certain types of oats? I've found that quick oats work beautifully in our granola recipe, producing a lighter and crisper texture than rolled oats. It's all about finding that perfect balance, folks!
Now, let's talk about the importance of evenly browning those granola pieces. As I carefully monitored the oven temperature, I couldn't help but think about the secret to achieving this perfect golden brown color. The trick? Leaving one side of the pan uncovered during cooking, allowing for a gentle browning on both sides. It's a simple yet crucial step that can make all the difference in the world.
As our granola cooled and matured, the aroma wafting from the bowl was nothing short of intoxicating. Cinnamon, honey, toasted coconut – it was like a symphony of flavors and textures working together in perfect harmony. And when I finally took my first bite, the crunch of the oats gave way to a delightful chewiness, punctuated by the sweetness of the honey and the subtle tang of cinnamon.
Of course, no recipe is complete without a few secrets up its sleeve. One of mine? Using parchment paper to line your baking sheet. Not only does it prevent sticking and make cleanup a breeze, but it also allows for easy reuse – just give it a quick wipe down with some moist paper towel when needed. Trust me, this little trick has saved me from more than one baking disaster in the past!
As I continued to bake and mix our granola recipe, my husband took matters into his own hands. He politely informed me that he'd be taking the back of the chia seeds for his office breakfast – a common practice in many offices, I'm told. Unfortunately, this means our chia seeds are now on lockdown duty, safely stored away until further notice. But don't worry; we'll just have to get creative with our next recipe.
In these uncertain times, it's heartening to know that some things remain constant – like the simple pleasures of homemade granola. So go ahead, take a moment to appreciate the little things in life: the soft crunch of toasted oats, the sweetness of honey, or the subtle tang of cinnamon. And as I sit here, surrounded by the comforting aromas and tastes of our beloved recipe, I know that everything will be okay. We'll get through this together, one delicious granola recipe at a time.
And so, dear readers, I hope you've enjoyed this little excursion into the world of homemade granola. Whether you're a seasoned baker or a newcomer to the world of breakfast snacks, I hope this recipe has given you something to smile about – and maybe even inspired you to try your hand at making it yourself. So go ahead, get creative, and remember: in the words of the great philosopher, Oscar Wilde, "To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance."
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyou want some granola my mama everyone welcome to lockdown Thai kitchen yes so if you've been following my channel you might have seen the live Q&A that I posted and you will know that right now my filming has been postponed because I don't film at home I film at Adam's place and since everybody is on lockdown right now filming is not happening for the next little while so I thought you know what now that I'm home I might as well show you what I am cooking while we're on lockdown may not be Thai recipes but it'll just be hopefully something that's useful entertaining inspiring to you one way or the other and by the way this is my new place that is the kitchen is um in the middle of being renovated and eventually the plan is this will be the new hot Thai kitchen set but because we're on lockdown the renovation is now being put on hold so even though I have no backsplash and the cabinets are also still the old ones we can still make it work for now okay all right so today what I'm gonna show share with you is my ultimate famous granola recipe so okay I say famous it's because it's very good it's a very good Carolla recipe that I've been making for years my husband loves granola and he eats it all the time and we have just run out and I thought hey why don't we just make it okay so granola is very simple I'm gonna start with the only thing you have to cook is the oats okay if you've never made Panola you may not know but you only cook the oat separately and then you just mix in the dried fruit and nuts whatever afterwards I'm gonna start with some oil so I use avocado oil for those of you who have always asked me what kind of oil do you use for your it's usually al-baqarah oil because mutual flavor it's a high heat resistant the reason why I'm doing all first it's actually a very specific reason you want to come closer to the pot by the way my husband is on camera yay so here's half a cup of oil and you might look at that and go oh my god that's so much oil it's also a lot of granola and the reason why a measurement the oil first is so important because the next thing I'm going to measure is honey and once you have greased your measuring cup with the oil now your honey will slide out with such ease that you don't really have to scrape it off a little bit more half done you can also do maple syrup instead but we prefer honey my husband finds that it helps with a seasonal allergy so we use local honey oh by the way a shout-out to six legs good honey this is a fan of the show who lives right here in Vancouver and he just gave me a couple of liters of honey that he makes himself so I just wanted to give him a shout out it's really good local honey okay so that is gonna go in to the pot and if you're gonna see how easy this slides out of a cup watch this oh look at that a dream right apart from that I got half a teaspoon of salt and I use fine salt and all my recipes I always use fine table salt not kosher salt or anything just because it's a standard salt that everybody can get all around the world and so the measurements do differ if you use kosher salt you can eat a little bit more and then normally this recipe calls for brown sugar but because I have this cinnamon sugar left over from a few weeks ago when I had a failed attempt to make churros we tried to make churros it didn't work out very well but I still have the cinnamon sugar from that so and it does happens to be about the right amount so I'm gonna put that also into my pot a little bit more of the cinnamon probably because there's how much of the sugar Oh a third of a cup of sugar went in there cinnamon supposed to be three quarters of a teaspoon I don't know how much was in that cinnamon sugar so I'm just gonna add a little bit more vanilla is three quarters of a teaspoon as well although you know what vanilla sometimes I just go click look lookin whatever goes in there is in there okay so that I'm just gonna put on the stove to melt all the sugar that's it so easy and since I don't have my portable stove that I usually have on the show we're actually gonna have to go and use the stove okay this one so this is internal and a new stove and there's so many knobs and options here it still takes me a while to figure out what knob I need to turn in which direction to get the right element going okay so it's gotten to follow me which is good because that means us it's pretty much ready so I'm just checking that the sugars dissolved pour it onto my spoon and pour it off see if there's still some granules not really not anything you have to worry about it so that's it we're ready to go okay so now I'm gonna switch weapon to a rubber spatula and then I've got some rolled oats here original recipe calls for regular rolled oats but I only have quick oats so that's what we're gonna use it's okay it'll still workand I'm using a rubber spatula so I can scrape everything out and then just give it a really good and use your biggest mixing bowl like if you use a bowl that's like just big enough you regret it right about now because you're trying to stir everything and things of jumping out of the bowl so make sure it's pawlenty big enough so that you can stir with gusto so at this point you could theoretically give it a taste just to taste for like how cinnamony and you know sweet and salty you want it but I've made this recipe so many times that I know it is exactly where I want it to be okay I've got my oven preheated to 325 I've got a sheet pan my baby monitor is right here I have to keep have to keep an eye on him so that I'm not too loud and then wake him up from his nap okay I may need to bake this on two different sheet pan so I'm just gonna spread it out in a thin layer okay and my one tip about baking a flat thing like this is you'll notice sometimes that when you bake like a tray of nuts or whatever the middle is less cooked than the edges right so what I do sometimes just to make things more even is I don't really put things in the middle that way I don't have like a patch undercook things that I have to worry about as much mmm I can really smell that honeyokay and that's it these are then gonna go into the oven for ten minutes and then you stir and then you beat another ten minutes and what you're going for is they are crispy that's so easy right so the other thing that I also put in my oven along with the granola is the coconut the toasted coconut it's optional you don't have to add it but if you want to you can add a little bit as much as you want so let me just show you here there you go and as you can see I did the same trick of leaving the thing in the middle and you see how nicely evenly browned that is I did have to turn it around halfway through because the back of the oven is always hotter than the front of the oven or I don't know every oven is is different but there's usually one side that is hotter than the other so I just turned that around but I'm not getting any like white spot in the middle so it's a good trick to know for things like panko as well or not anything that that is sensitive to uneven browning and it is smelling good now I smell the cinnamon I smell the honey and definitely the toasted coconut is in the air so the granola is done and they have cooled oh and also the baby is not awake so my husband is now on baby duty so y'all are on a tripod right now so not gonna see as many close-ups unfortunately so it's now cool so it's been cooling for a while I did end up having to put this one in for 25 minutes total because I think I piled it a little thick this one only took 20 and when they first come out it's not gonna be crispy because it's hot right the sugar and everything is still soft but what you want to go by is the color should be a little bit darker a more darker brown than it was going in okay so take a mental note of the color and then once it's cool then it'll be crispy aha look at this look at this yeshmm Ross perfect and I kind of prefer actually quick oats because they end up being lighter and crispier because the pieces are thinner so rolled oats are gonna be bigger and thicker and so it's a little bit chewier I guess like it's it's it's harder to chew so whatever you have it'll work so now for the fruits and nuts side of things I have cranberries Sultana raisins toasted coconut pecans and cashews but you can put whatever dried fruit whatever nuts we usually also put chia seeds but my husband took the back of chia seeds to his office for breakfast for his breakfast in the office and then forgot to bring it before a lockdown now the office is on lockdown so our chia seeds are gone so it's okay I'm just gonna put all of this into my bowl see this I just love this so much it's like lace by the way the parchment paper this can be reused if there's like stuff on it just give it a little little wipe down with some moist paper towel moist towel or something and then you can reuse it when I used to work in a bakery we reuse parchment until it was no longer reusable so I'm just gonna break this down this giant piece of vanillathat's it I hope you found that helpful does a great lockdown recipe that only uses pantry ingredients no fresh nothing frozen once you make it keep it well sealed in a cool dry place because it's oils and there's nothing there which will eventually go Rams it if you've made too much you might want to stick some in the fridge to make sure that the nuts and the stuff that doesn't go ramps it before you can get to it alright you guys I hope you're staying safe you're staying staying you're staying healthy I hope you're all doing well given the strange circumstances that we found ourselves into I'm gonna continue to upload more videos as much as I can at home to keep you guys entertained and to give me something else to do other than be with a baby you're okay now you want some granola\n"
