What do our fellow bloggers, writers, and online friends eat, first thing in the morning? We are asking some friends to share their favorite morning nourishment with us. I will cook and eat it too, and bring you their thoughts on what to eat first thing in the morning.
Melissa's breakfast recipe reveals the mystery of how to create clusters in homemade granola, one of the great culinary questions in this home cook's mind. Like all great cooking tips, the cluster effect is all in one tiny detail. Read on to find out what this hint is!
Melissa's travel/cooking blog, the Traveler's Lunchbox, is an enchanting resource for creative recipes and glimpses into far off places. It's the perfect window into a life less ordinary and homespun meals. Melissa's recipes are approachable and elegant, and her photos will dazzle you with their casual glamour. I've followed her blog as she's traversed the globe, living in Seattle at one point, and now she and her husband are based in Germany. This gourmande blogger is always finding the center of what foods sustain her and writing heartfelt, food-related stories.
About this breakfast Melissa says:
Okay, so what exactly makes this granola different? I'm no kitchen scientist, but I can point out the things that seem to have the biggest impact. One thing is the addition of oat flour, which helps the grains and nuts stick together into those much-coveted clusters. Another is the use of sugar; as much I like liquid sweeteners like honey and maple syrup, they seem to produce a tougher, chewier granola. Finally, the right kind of oats are essential. For years I only baked with regular rolled ('old fashioned') oats because that's what recipes called for, but as soon as I switched to the smaller, thinner 'quick oats', the changes were remarkable--clusters formed, everything baked faster, and the texture became exquisitely light and crunchy. If you can't find quick oats where you live--and I have lived in a few places where oats come in one variety only--here's what I would do: pulse rolled oats in a food processor a few times to break them down to about half their original size. It won't be exactly the same but it will come close.
Melissa's secret ingredient, oat flour, made all the difference in this sweet batch of granola. Really, I've always loved the flavor and freshness of homemade granola, but always wished for the clusters I so enjoy from the store-bought versions. Could it be that this oat flour would be the 'glue' to bind the beloved groupings of oats and sugar? Indeed! With a remarkable, toasty flavor and humble oatiness, this was a very successful granola recipe. The only problem? It was impossible not to snack on a handful (or two) for the few days it sat on a jar on my kitchen counter. It's totally addictive and lovely.
Melissa's Cluster-Filled Granola
Adapted from The Traveler's Lunchbox
Serves 6-8
1 lb quick oats
3 cups coarsely chopped raw nuts and/or seeds (I used unsweetened coconut, peanuts, almonds and walnuts)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground or nutmeg
1 cup, packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
dried fruit, (I used about 2 cups of raisins, dried pineapple, dried papaya)
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a food processor, coffee grinder or blender, grind half the oats to a fine powder (you are making the oat flour called for in the recipe). In a large bowl, combine the whole oats, ground oats, nuts and spices. In a microwave-safe bowl (or in a saucepan over medium heat), combine the brown sugar, butter and water and heat just until the butter has melted and the mixture is bubbly. Stir the mixture together until smooth, then stir in the salt and vanilla. Pour this mixture over the oats and nuts, stirring well to coat. It should be uniformly moist - stir in another tablespoon or two of water if it isn't. Let stand for about ten minutes.
Spread the mixture out on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper, separating it into irregular clumps with your fingers, and allowing space between the clumps for the hot air to circulate. Slide into the middle of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and stir, gently breaking up the mixture into small-to-medium sized clumps. Return to the oven and bake another 15 minutes or so before stirring again. Repeat the bake-and-stir until the mixture is a uniform golden brown and completely dry; this usually takes 1-1 1/2 hours. Cool completely, then stir in any dried fruit you want to use.
Store in a covered container at room temperature. Serve with milk or plain yogurt and fresh fruit as desired.
Thanks Melissa for contributing to our Breakfast with a Blogger series!
• Visit Melissa's Blog: The Traveler's Lunchbox
Related: Peanut Butter and Honey Granola
(Images: Leela Cyd Ross, photo of Melissa provided by Melissa)
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Agh, my secret is out! I also make my own granola. It's lovely and clumpy and indeed the secret is the oat flour. I'm kind of hitting a saturation point with my own recipe. Maybe I'll try this one next.
It won't be a permanent switch though. A whole stick of butter! This is a decedent (and I'm sure yummy) granola.
Yumm...it's been a while since I've made granola. This might just be the nudge I need to start up again.
Thanks for these insights. I've only recently begun making my own granola and I've been tweaking the liquid sweeteners in hope of making it cluster. One question. Will almond meal do the same thing as oat flour?
A whole stick of butter? Sounds lovely, but not for me since I am low cholesterol and trying to get off Lipitor. I might have to try the oat flour with my low fat recipe though, see if it helps things clump.
At first glance that stick of butter sounds like a lot. But I've made homemade granola from several recipes before and they all call for 1/3 to 1/2 cup of oil. She is calling for 1/2 cup butter. That sounds about right to me...
* I meant "decadent", not decedent. (Although, if I pass this recipe down to my grandkids maybe someday it will be a decent decedent granola)...that's probably only funny to first year law students. sorry.
Ah, but there is more than one way to get an oat to cluster! My secret, if you can call it that, is pumpkin puree and water warmed with brown sugar and spices, then poured over toasted old fashioned oats, nuts and coconut. No oil. The oats should be pretty wet when they go onto the baking tray (I use a baking stone - no sticking problems). Bake on low heat and do not stir. The result: loads o' clumps (not to mention the nutrient boost).
I agree with mlflamingo, a stick of butter is not an option for those of us that need a no cholesterol diet plus I don't think it's necessary to get granola to cluster. I recently revised my 1970's granola recipe using only a two tablespoons of oil, ground flax seed and almond meal and it has wonderful, healthy chunks. I also used maple syrup instead of sugar. You can check out my recipe at www.myrecessionkitchen.com
i use with canola oil since you can't taste the butter and it's a lot cheaper. I've also always used brown sugar since it's cheaper than maple syrup and honey.
mlflamingo, the low-fat version you describe should work fine without a stick of butter. When I make granola, I use just a drizzle of oil, but it clumps up just fine.
crumbseverywhere, I immediately wondered the same thing, and I suspect that it would work with almond flour --- or maybe a combination of almond flour and something starchier.
In my own experiments, it seems it's not crucial to have oat flour specifically, just some powdery ingredient that will help bind together bigger clusters of the chunkier ingredients. I've used bran, wheat germ, even whole wheat flour in a pinch.
I've never used plain almond meal as the binding floury agent, for fear that the oil-richness would interfere with the clustering, but I have used almond meal mixed with ground oats. It worked fine!
A pound of oats...about how many cups would you say? (I don't have a kitchen scale).
Wow, you can't win, can you? I was coming on here to post about how awesome I thought this recipe was. I had been looking for a clumpy granola recipe for some time and this worked out great. Then I ran into all of these negative nellies talking about how bad a stick of butter was!
I loved your recipe. It clumped deliciously. I used Smart Balance Light w/EVOO b/c I'm allergic to dairy. I used 2 cups chopped almonds plus 1/3C flax seed, 1/3C coconut, 1/3C sunflower seeds. Next time I might try adding a little honey to sweeten it up a bit but it sure is delicious on it's own!!
I'm going to have to go try this right now, using these tips to adjust my own secret granola recipe! My kids love the clumps of the store-bought stuff.
Sounds delicious. Can't wait to try this.
I make mine with olive oil, maple syrup, and 1/2-3/4 of regular flour which works as the binder for the clusters. My granola is not light and crispy because I use old fashioned oats, but I like the heft and chewiness of my granola clusters.
I think the idea of using a powdery element to serve as a binder is a good. I normally use wheat germ and also grind about a fourth of my oats. I just tried this recipe out but found that using all quick oats as the foundation makes for a starchy tasting granola (as opposed to the nutty oat-y tasting ones I make normally). I think the addition of some rolled oats would greatly improve the flavor as well as the texture of these clusters because otherwise it's a pretty good recipe.
Oh, will the Lipid Hypothesis never die?!?! Cholesterol is not bad for you. Do your research! eat your butter!
That said, coconut oil works fabulously, for those of you who are lactose intolerant, or simply don't want to irritate their doctor. :)
This looks fantastic (most granola recipes used rolled oats and I can't get them where I am). Also, as much as I love butter, its a bit expensive where I live, can someone suggest how much and what kind of oil to substitute in the above recipe? Any other recipe tweaking needed if I do sub oil for the butter? Thanks!