Slow Cooker Granola
Someone here recently linked to A Year of Slow Cooking. I poked around and have bookmarked some of her interesting recipes. I consider myself a fairly experienced slow cooker but usually only do roasts and stews. I was intrigued by her granola and am giving it a go tonight. It isn't the kind of recipe you can just toss in and leave to itself, it needs babysitting so keep this in mind when you make it. Also, there are suggestions in the comments of her recipe including adding peanut butter. I love peanut butter and might try this next time, but want to see how this turns out first.
The ingredients she's suggested are:
- 5 cups oats (if gluten free, make sure the oats are certified GF.)
- 1/4 cup honey * (see note in blog)
- 1/4 cup melted butter * (see note in blog)
- 1 T flax seeds
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup dried fruit (I used raisins and cranberries)
I've changed my ingredients list to fit what I have and like. It goes without saying you need a larger cooker for this so cut the sizes depending on your cooker or tastes.
-4 cups oats
- 1/2 cup honey (I used tawari honey, one of the native honeys. I haven't tried tawari before but love pohutukawa honey, I'm out of it right now though)
-1/2 cup melted butter
-approx 3/4 to 1 cup roasted pepita (kind of like pumpkin seeds; I roasted them lightly)
-approx 3/4 to 1 cup whole almonds that I roughly chopped
-approx 1/2 to 3/4 cup raisins (only because I didn't have more!)
-approx 1 cup cranberries (these came pre-sliced but you can use whole)
-approx 1/2 to 3/4 cup shredded coconut
-approx 5 large chunks of crystalised ginger (finely chopped)
-approx 6 or 7 dried apricots (chopped medium-sized)
-ground cinnamon (no idea how much I used, I like it a lot and guess I used about 1/2 Tablespoon)
-ground cardamom (again, no idea how much exactly, maybe 3 teaspoons or so??)
-ground ginger (again, no idea, maybe 2 teaspoons)
-ground cloves (see above, really I don't measure these things LOL! maybe 1 teaspoon)
-vanilla essence (1 1/2 capfulls which would translate to about 2 teaspoons I think)
I added the oats, raisins, pepitos, cranberries and cocout to the pot, the put in the butter and honey and gave it a good stir. I added the rest of the ingredients, with the spices and vanilla added last, stirring occassionally. I've got it on high, vented with the wooden spoon I stirred it all with (very important!) and am stirring about every 15 minutes so it won't burn. It smells really good!
Here's a pict of the mix as it's cooking. I'll update this post when it is done and I've tasted it.
ETA: This would probably make a nice, inexpensive home made Christmas/Yule gift, especially packaged up nicely and gifted with some yoghurt or a special bowl. If you are doing this, try to keep in mind the possibility of allergies and try to surreptitiously find out if/what allergies the recipients have. Since it's a recipe mostly by taste you can reduce the quantities and make it for one person or several families.
It's turned out well! I cooked it for almost 3 hours and I probably could have stopped it sooner, maybe 2 1/2 hours?. Even stirring it about every 15 minutes I have a couple of bits that are dark brown. Still tastes good! The spices were perfect. It hasn't really clumped like the blog says, that's ok. I think that the few clumps I have are from oats/etc sticking to the cut up apricots so if you cut up more you might get more clumps. And it's not hard 'crunchy' but that that's ok, it's fine as is. I might add a bit more crystalised ginger next time I make it because I love my ginger and I probably wouldn't add peanut butter (and I'm a peanut butter fanatic!), it's fine as is. Picts below the cut of the finished product and happy making!
The ingredients she's suggested are:
- 5 cups oats (if gluten free, make sure the oats are certified GF.)
- 1/4 cup honey * (see note in blog)
- 1/4 cup melted butter * (see note in blog)
- 1 T flax seeds
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup dried fruit (I used raisins and cranberries)
I've changed my ingredients list to fit what I have and like. It goes without saying you need a larger cooker for this so cut the sizes depending on your cooker or tastes.
-4 cups oats
- 1/2 cup honey (I used tawari honey, one of the native honeys. I haven't tried tawari before but love pohutukawa honey, I'm out of it right now though)
-1/2 cup melted butter
-approx 3/4 to 1 cup roasted pepita (kind of like pumpkin seeds; I roasted them lightly)
-approx 3/4 to 1 cup whole almonds that I roughly chopped
-approx 1/2 to 3/4 cup raisins (only because I didn't have more!)
-approx 1 cup cranberries (these came pre-sliced but you can use whole)
-approx 1/2 to 3/4 cup shredded coconut
-approx 5 large chunks of crystalised ginger (finely chopped)
-approx 6 or 7 dried apricots (chopped medium-sized)
-ground cinnamon (no idea how much I used, I like it a lot and guess I used about 1/2 Tablespoon)
-ground cardamom (again, no idea how much exactly, maybe 3 teaspoons or so??)
-ground ginger (again, no idea, maybe 2 teaspoons)
-ground cloves (see above, really I don't measure these things LOL! maybe 1 teaspoon)
-vanilla essence (1 1/2 capfulls which would translate to about 2 teaspoons I think)
I added the oats, raisins, pepitos, cranberries and cocout to the pot, the put in the butter and honey and gave it a good stir. I added the rest of the ingredients, with the spices and vanilla added last, stirring occassionally. I've got it on high, vented with the wooden spoon I stirred it all with (very important!) and am stirring about every 15 minutes so it won't burn. It smells really good!
Here's a pict of the mix as it's cooking. I'll update this post when it is done and I've tasted it.
ETA: This would probably make a nice, inexpensive home made Christmas/Yule gift, especially packaged up nicely and gifted with some yoghurt or a special bowl. If you are doing this, try to keep in mind the possibility of allergies and try to surreptitiously find out if/what allergies the recipients have. Since it's a recipe mostly by taste you can reduce the quantities and make it for one person or several families.
It's turned out well! I cooked it for almost 3 hours and I probably could have stopped it sooner, maybe 2 1/2 hours?. Even stirring it about every 15 minutes I have a couple of bits that are dark brown. Still tastes good! The spices were perfect. It hasn't really clumped like the blog says, that's ok. I think that the few clumps I have are from oats/etc sticking to the cut up apricots so if you cut up more you might get more clumps. And it's not hard 'crunchy' but that that's ok, it's fine as is. I might add a bit more crystalised ginger next time I make it because I love my ginger and I probably wouldn't add peanut butter (and I'm a peanut butter fanatic!), it's fine as is. Picts below the cut of the finished product and happy making!