Tuesday, March 24, 2009

what's cooking wendesday - cinnamon raisin granola

I love granola, but almost never buy it because the ones at the store are usually expensive and full of stuff I don't like. It may seem odd, but it never occured to me to make it myself until I stumbled upon a recipe at allrecipes.com.

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Recently I was given a bunch of President's Choice Blue Menu items to review. I haven't made my way through all of it yet, but the Omega Oil is one product I really love. It's a combination of grapeseed, extra virgin olive and flaxseed oils. When I noticed this recipe called for oil I opted to use this instead.

cinnamon raisin granola


Cinnamon Raisin Granola

4 cups oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used Omega oil instead)
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup raisins

In a large bowl combine oats and coconut, set aside. In a saucepan combine brown sugar, oil, honey and cinnamon; bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over oat mixture and stir to coat. Spread on a large shallow pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool, add raisins and store in a airtight container.

Recipe Notes: Well I left out the raisins and the coconut because I don't really care for either. This smelled delicious and Abby was stealing pinches of it as it cooled on the table. I'm not sure why, but it didn't clump together in clusters. I think next time I might slip the boiling process to keep everything stickier and see what that gets me. Unless they are granola makers out there with more experience than I, who can tell me what I'm doing wrong. Abby and I really love it the way it is though. She eats it dry out of the bowl. I like to sprinkled on fruit and yogurt, it's like a cheater fruit crisp.




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

7 comments:

JillEBean said...

Looks good!

How did you get started in reviewing products?

Eleonora Baldwin said...

Oooo I looove granola! And cinnamon? My favorite spice. I agree, the raisins can be left out. Ciao

Anonymous said...

I really like the sound of this recipe because it doesn't contain nuts. And the addition of the omega oil is awesome!

I think I'll try some on the weekend. I'll let you know if I get it to turn out any better.

A Crafty Mom said...

We love home-made granola, I make it all the time!! My kids and husband just gobble it up (I do too!). I love this recipe:
http://frommommyskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/07/homemade-granola.html

I've used it religiously and I just add or change ingredients as I need to . . . it definitely clumps together well, probably from all the honey. On special occasions I leave out the raisins and swap them for choc. chips!!

Your recipe looks interesting, I think I'll give it a try b/c I love trying new stuff!

A Crafty Mom said...

I added a link, to a post from my menu-planning blog, but I forgot to add what it was - it's a Breakfast Bagel (it's an older post but I thought I'd share it). Next week I'm going to try to be more on the ball and join you for your What's Cooking Wednesday!!

Shan said...

Jill - A PR company got in touch with me and asked if I would be interested in trying some products out. Some I say yes and others I pas son. Depends on if it fits in with my family and what I would typically write about.

Lola - mine too!

Lynn - Yes, please I'd love to hear your experience.

Crafty - thanks I'm going to check that one out. Hope to see you next week for WCW!!

Unknown said...

Sorry I added my WCW to this week so late.