Granola with quinoa and seeds

I eat granola almost every weekday morning for breakfast, but until recently, I've never actually made my own.  Any of the recipes I saw seemed too complicated or they had ingredients that I didn't want to use like corn syrup and/or oil (wtf?), or or they included nuts/seeds that I didn't have. So, even though I always check every recipe that I see, I've never once attempted to make it...until I saw a recipe for Quinoa Granola over at Fake Ginger.

At the time, I had a huge amount of red quinoa that I wanted to get rid of (even after using it in the Quinoa and sausage stuffed acorn squash), so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to both make granola for the first time AND use up the quinoa. I can't say that I would have ever thought to use quinoa in granola, but it makes sense since it's actually a seed.

Unfortunately, once I made and tasted the recipe, I wasn't entirely happy with the outcome.  First, it wasn't sweet enough.  Second, there was so much quinoa that, because it turned hard during baking, it made for difficult eating.

But, all was not lost because I finally realized just how easy it was to make granola and how infinitely customizable it is! Initially, I set out to make granola that tasted similar to my favorite commercially available granola, Oats and honey by Cascadian Farms.  So, I modified the original recipe primarily by increasing the honey and decreasing the quinoa; I also added some other nuts, seeds, and flavors.  I've made it several times now and each version is better than the previous.

See the puffed rice in the mix?

As a bonus, I found that I could make this granola gluten free without spending a ton of money on gluten free oats.  I've tried a few batches with puffed rice, both mixed and 100%, and it ended up working very well.

[Our camera is on the fritz so these pics below (plus the header pic) were taken with my iPhone.  Not too shabby, might I add.]

Granola
Inspiration from Fake Ginger

~10 1-cup servings

For the mix that's pictured above, I used a combination of puffed rice and oats; a nut and seed mix that included 1 cup walnuts, 4 tablespoons each of pumpkin and sunflower seeds, 4 tablespoons quinoa (rinsed and spread out to dry), and 2 tablespoons sesame seeds (which are on the restricted list, but Tara isn't eating this stuff anytime soon, so no worries); and for the fruit, I used cranberries. 

Ingredients

• 6 cups old-fashioned oats and/or puffed rice
• 2 cups mixed nuts and seeds
• 1 cup applesauce (or baby food)
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch salt
• sprinkle cinnamon
• 1 cup dried fruit
• Optional additions: flax meal, protein powder, wheat germ

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300.  Coat a baking dish or 2 with oil (preferred) or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts, and seeds. Set aside.

Stir together applesauce and/or baby food, honey, molasses, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. (This is where I add in my optional ingredients, too.  I feel that mixing it with the liquids gives it a better distribution.)  Taste and add more flavorings as needed. Pour over oat mixture and stir to moisten all of the ingredients. Spread the mixture onto prepared baking dish.


Bake for 40 – 50 minutes, stirring occasionally, until granola is golden and slightly crunchy (Don't cook it until it is totally crunchy because it will crisp up as it cools).  Remove from oven and stir in dried fruit.  Let cool and store tightly covered.

Notes: If you don't have a glut of baby food like us and are using applesauce, you may want to leave out or reduce the sugar, especially if you're not that into sweet stuff.  By the same token, if you are using a flavored or sweetened protein powder, you may want to decrease or eliminate both the sugar and the vanilla.

  

Cinnamon rolls

I like cinnamon rolls. No, I love cinnamon rolls.

All of these pictures were taken on the dashboard of my car!

Cinnamon rolls and I have a special relationship. My mom wasn't a star in the kitchen so I didn't get too many "Sunday" breakfasts where there was a veritable spread of homemade goods. I used to marvel in awe when, after a sleepover, my friend's moms would make pancakes and/or french toast and eggs and sausage and - well, you get the idea. I did, however, used to get warm cinnamon rolls almost every weekend - straight out of a Pillsbury can. Sometimes I would watch my mom open the can, thinking how wild it was that the can popped open. When I got old enough, the job of popping the can open fell on me; I would cringe waiting for the 'pop' because I was always afraid that the can was going to explode.  Even now, some 15 to 20 years later, we still have an occasional can of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  So, you see, cinnamon rolls have become our "thing."

What promise this picture has...

I have, of course, eaten other cinnamon rolls. I've always wanted to experience that freshly baked, just warm from the oven, ooey, gooey cinnamon goodness. I tried some from delis, grocery stores, and even Cinnabon; each time, however, the idea was always better than the reality. They never tasted like I imagined they would; quite frankly, the ones from the can were better.  This was, unfortunately, the case with these cinnamon rolls, too.

Seriously, how good do these look?

Ever since yeast and I became friends, I've been wanting to make my own homemade version of cinnamon rolls. Only problem is that all the recipes I've seen make at least 12-15 rolls; Tara doesn't really like them and my will power when it comes to these things is nonexistent. So I had to wait for an occasion where I could give most of the rolls away. Ever the optimist, I made some dough to store in the freezer until I was able to actually make the cinnamon rolls. When I had the perfect opportunity, I took the dough out to defrost and then decided it wasn't the perfect opportunity and promptly refroze it. And then, I did it all over again!

Best team name, ever!

I was finally able to make them for our softball team for Softball Sunday. There are about 12 ladies on the team, so I knew I would be able get most of the girls to eat at least one. All of the girls loved the cinnamon rolls, even Tara - shocker! I, on the other hand, thought they were just so-so. It's hard to pinpoint what it was exactly, but they definitely needed a little something. Maybe it was because I used a vanilla icing instead of a cream cheese version?

That's my finger grabbing some of that extra icing.

I plan on trying Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls (watch the video) and Ree's, of the Pioneer Woman Cooks, recipes.

Cinnamon Rolls

(Barely) adapted from Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything

I'm including the directions for a cream cheese icing/glaze because I think it'll be loads better than the vanilla icing.  I encourage you to go that route.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups AP or bread flour (I used APF)
• 2 tsp. instant yeast
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tb sugar
• 2 Tb. cold butter
• 2 eggs
• About 1 cup milk, preferably whole
• Softened butter for the pans

     Filling

• 2 Tb ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup sugar

     Vanilla glaze

• 1/4 cup cream, milk, or a combo of both 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups confectioner's sugar 

     Cream cheese icing (from Alton Brown)

• 2 1/2 oz (~1/4 cup) room temp cream cheese
• 3 Tb milk
• 5 1/2 oz (~1 1/2 cups) confectioner's sugar

Directions:

Combine the flour, yeast, salt, sugar, and cold butter in a food processor. Pulse the machine on and off until the butter is evenly distributed in the flour, but not completely blended in. Add the eggs and pulse a few more times. With the machine running, slowly add 3/4 cup of the milk through the feed tube.

Process for about 30 seconds, adding more milk if necessary, a little at a time, until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch. If it is dry, add another tablespoon or two of milk and process for another 10 seconds. If the mixture is too sticky, add flour, a tablespoon at a time.

Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead it a bit by hand. Form a smooth, round dough ball, put in a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap: let rise until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 2 hours. (I ended up freezing the dough after it had risen. Tightly wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for up to a month; defrost the dough in a covered bowl in the fridge or at room temperature.)

When the dough is ready, form it into a ball. Put the ball on a lightly floured surface, sprinkle with a little flour, and cover with plastic wrap (I used the same wrap from above). Let rest until the dough puffs slightly, about 20 minutes.

Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. In a small bowl, prepare the filling by combining the cinnamon and sugar.

Press and roll the dough into a large rectangle, about the size of the baking dish. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly all over. Wet your hands and shake a few drops of water over all; use a fork to rub the cinnamon sugar and water into the dough a bit; it should be a light paste. (Note: I read on another blog where someone nixed the water and brushed the dough with melted butter before dusting with the cinnamon sugar mixture; maybe that would have helped with the richness.)

Roll the dough up lengthwise and seal the seam as best as possible. You'll have a long log. Slice it crosswise into 15 pieces. Put each piece, cut side up, into the prepared dish or pan: 3 across and 5 lengthwise. (I put the pan in the fridge at this point and left it in over night. I took it out in the morning and let it come to room temp. while the oven was heating.)

Heat the oven to 350F and set your rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for about 30 mins. After the rolls have cooled a bit, you can pour the vanilla glaze over them.

For the vanilla (or cream cheese) glaze, combine all the ingredients and beat until combined and smooth: it should be about the consistency of thick maple syrup - just pourable. Use immediately or store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.