I found an cookbook sitting on my shelf from years ago. I think it was either my Mom’s or I received it as a wedding gift. One day as I was thumbing through it I noticed a recipe for Granola. Up to that point, the only granola I had ever eaten was something that I really didn’t get excited about.
But the ingredients in the recipe I found in that old cookbook sounded good to me, so I decided to try it. Well, the results, in my opinion, were FABULOUS. I followed the receipt to the letter. You can see the picture of the original recipe here. Over the years I’ve tweaked it a little bit, but it is still the best granola I’ve ever had. Here is my adapted recipe from what was the original. I believe it was an old Betty Crocker Cookbook. BEFORE BEGINNING: Set your coconut oil in a bowl of very hot water so that the coconut oil will be melted by the time you need it. ENERGY SAVER: You’ll set your oven at 300 degrees, but don’t do it until you’ve mixed all your ingredients together and your pans are greased. This recipe makes two full cookie sheet trays) of Granola. INGREDIENTS:
- 4 cups Regular rolled oats (I use Quaker old-fashioned )
- 1 cup flaked coconut
- 1 cup slivered almonds. You could also use chopped almonds or pecans)
- 1 cup shelled unsalted sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
- 1 cup honey or maple syrup
- 2/3 cup coconut oil
After you’ve mixed the ingredients above, then PREHEAT OVEN TO 300 degrees. Generously grease two baking sheets with coconut oil. My pan sizes are 15x10x1. Spread the granola mixture evenly between the two sheets. Spread the mixture all the way to the corner of the baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes, then stir and bake another 10-15 minutes. You know the granola is done when it’s a light caramel brown color. Remove immediately and let cool. Cover tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks or in freezer for longer storage. OPTIONAL: AFTER your granola has cooked and cooled add: Raisins, chopped dates, or any dried fruit. TIPS
- Coconut Oil is solid at room temperature. If you fill a large bowl with very hot water and set the coconut oil jar in the water, the oil will quickly melt so that you can pour it. You could also use 1/3rd cup of oil if you want less fat calories, but I make the full fat version.
- Sweetener: Sometimes I only use 1/2 cup honey and it still tastes great, but if you use more honey, your granola will get that nice “clumpy” quality to it after it’s cooled.
- Truth: I’ve tried countless store bought granolas but in my opinion, NOTHING comes close to this recipe. If I had the energy and more time, I’d get a business going and market the stuff. Everyone loves it. It is NOT, I repeat not low cal, but that is not my aim.
Okay … and now a word about a cereal named “HOLY CRAP”. What a strange name for a cereal, but yes I sometimes eat this for breakfast. I use only two tablespoons of the stuff, which is essentially chia seeds, hemp seeds, buckwheat grouts, dried fruit and some cinnamon. I pour about 3/4 cup of Almond Milk on top and it is a delicious, healthy, fiberlicious start to my day.
So what in the world is Holy Crap? It’s a cereal basically made with Chia Seed, Buckwheat Groats and Hemp seeds. It’s supposed to help with your daily constitution (if you get my drift). Before launching more about Holy Crap, just as an FYI, at this writing (10.28.12) Holy Crap is not yet available in the U.S. A friend of mine purchased some for me in Canada and gave it to me as a gift. In my opinion I feel Holy Crap is a clever marketing gimmick to get you to empty your wallet of up $10.00 per bag. The bag is not very big and although claims to contain 8oz. of product, my measurements came up short of 3 oz. of ingredients. Lest you think I got a bum bag, well, my friend gave me two bags of the stuff and the ingredients were the same amount in each one. Now, to be fair, the ingredients in Holy Crap are not cheap. Chia seeds (good quality ones) are pricey, as are hemp seeds (what they are calling hemp hearts) and buckwheat groats are not cheap either. Add to that dried cranberries or any “dried fruit” and you can see how the price of one bag of Holy Crap can quickly skyrocket. Then there is the actual making of the stuff, the staff, the facility and overhead costs, the marketing, etc., etc., etc. There are of course “copy cat” products available and they are very close in ingredients and taste, but they too are quite pricey. But I loved the idea so I had to come up with a way to make my own So . . . Once I had the bag in my possession, I looked at the ingredient list (all organic) and saw that they were the following: and … by the way, the three main ingredients are:
- Chia Seeds
- Hulled Hemp Hearts (which are essentially Hemp Seeds)
- Buckwheat Groats
- Dried Apples
- Dried Cranberries
- Cinnamon
So . . . after looking at the bang I didn’t get for my buck I decided to make my own Holy Crap cereal. Not commercially mind you, just for my own (and my husbands) consumption. You might think I’m nuts, but since I thought I could save a significant amount of money by making my own “Holy Seeds”, I took the time to separate out the ingredients from that package of Holy Crap and was not astonished that for what I paid for it (approximately $10.00) I could make it for much less. Below are pictures of what the ingredients looked like when I separated them out. I did not take the time to separate out the groats from the hemp seeds. I could eyeball it and pretty much detect that there was a fairly equal amount of hemp seeds and buckwheat groats. It was pretty easy to sift out the chia seeds because they are so small.
- 1/2 cup – Chia Seeds
- 1/4 cup – Hulled Hemp Hearts (which are essentially Hemp Seeds)
- 1/4 cup – Buckwheat Groats
- 1 Tablespoon – Dried Apples (tiny little pieces)
- 1/4 cup – Dried Cranberries
- Cinnamon – I estimate about 1 teaspoon.P.S. – If you don’t have any dried fruit, or even cinnamon, don’t worry about it. Throw in some fruit of your choice (or none at all) and spice it with whatever you like. It’s the seeds and groats that are the most important. You can always pour 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup or honey over it for sweetness.
Jan 2007
