I’ve never been that much of a granola or Müsli much, but this might as well be called “The Granola that Changed My Mind Granola” — this Coconut Almond and Honey Granola is really really good. I’m happily surprised actually. I paired it for the last few days with coconut yogurt and maybe an extra drizzle of honey as an afternoon snack, and it’s been great. Perfect for breakfast or a pick me up snack. All natural, gluten free. Make a big batch (this recipe) and it will last you a few weeks.
It’s a cookie in bar form! Not brownie but a blondie! In essence, you can use the exact same recipe to make cookies, but I was in the mood to make bars, so here we are. These are easy to make, flavorful and easily substitutable — in other words, don’t like dried cranberries or pistachios or white chocolate, swap out for raisins, walnuts and semi-sweet chips. Lots of options!
Back to the usual weekly sourdough experiments, Up this week, another bread on the sweet side: a Maple Cinnamon Sourdough Breakfast Bread, with Raisins and Pecans. I know that raisins can be a controversial baking subject, so the nice thing is that you can just omit them, with no harm done. Delicious bread, great toasted with a bit of melty butter.
Here is my annual Cake Day cake. I mention this every year, but I don’t make cakes all that often — I’m not very good at decorating / frosting, and even more so in the days of a global pandemic, making cupcakes as not to share food is better anyway. That said, one day out of the year, I do make a cake, so this year is no different. I love the combination of coconut and chocolate so this celebratory has both cake types and frosting types, in addition to garnet-colored sugar flowers as they are the January birthstone color. Here’s to being 50, I guess!
Starting off 2022…. I bought a pineapple. I don’t do that very often because about half way through, I realize that pineapple is pretty acidic and I lose interest. But I felt like buying a pineapple for it’s symbolism. There are lots: warm welcomes, celebration and hospitality, friendship. Have one (or a painting or sculpture of one in a doorway, and it might mean stop in for a chat. In addition, it reminds me of warm climates and it’s pretty yucky weather here in greater Boston to start out the new year, so maybe I subconsciously was dreaming of Hawaii or the tropics. Either which way, I decided to make the standard crumble bars to start of the new year. Delicious, as always.