My love for recipes is like my love for books.  I walk into a library or bookstore and I imagine myself reading all the books on the shelves, although realistically I know I won’t like all the books on the shelves–just the idea that it could be possible makes me happy.  I feel the same way about recipes.  I get excited about reading through a recipe and am eager to try new ones.  Sometimes I get lucky and find one I like, but there are just as many times when I try a new recipe and it’s awful.  So I thought it would be fun to add a food section to this blog and share recipes I’ve enjoyed and that I think are delicious in case you want to try them, too.

First up is the granola I’ve been talking about for several weeks now.  I made a few additions and subtractions to the recipe, but it’s basically this granola I found at the Wednesday Chef blog.  Here’s the recipe below with my changes in italics.

French Chocolate Granola
Makes approximately 10 cups

6 cups rolled oats (gluten free rolled oats)
1 cup raw almonds, chopped (raw cashews)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (I left this out and thought it was plenty sweet without it)
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp of ground cardamom
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
12 tablespoons mild honey
4 tablespoons vegetable oil (Organic extra virgin coconut oil)
½ cup finely chopped bittersweet chocolate (currants)

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.

2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, coconut, sugar, and salt.  Stir well to blend.

3. In a small saucepan, warm the honey and oil over low heat, stirring gently, until the honey is loose. Pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to combine well.

4. Spread the mixture evenly on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden. Set a timer to go off halfway through the baking time, so that you can give the granola a good stir; this helps it to cook evenly. When it’s ready, remove the pan from the oven, stir well – this will keep it from cooling into a hard, solid sheet – and cool completely.

5. When cool, transfer the granola to a large bowl, storage jar, or zipper-lock plastic bag. Add the chocolate (this is where I added the currants or any dried fruit), and stir (or shake, if using a jar or bag) to mix. Store in an airtight container.

I like to eat this with plain yogurt and berries on top for breakfast or with almond milk for my late night snack.  If you have a favorite granola recipe you like, post it in the comments.