Martha Stewart: Start your day the right way with homemade maple granola
Published 11:25 am Wednesday, January 27, 2010
For decades, doctors have told us how important it is to start every day with a hearty and healthy breakfast.
When I was growing up, most American children were required to eat eggs or cereal and drink a glass of juice or finish half of a grapefruit before we could leave the kitchen table to get on with our day.
I happen to love a good, full breakfast. Not every day — because I certainly do not need carbs and fat and sugar too often — but once a week or so, when I have friends or family over.
Depending on the menu, some steps can be done ahead of time to make the morning preparations simpler. If I am serving poached eggs, I cook them early and keep them in a bowl of ice water until right before serving, when I gently reheat them in simmering water.
If I’m planning to make a frittata, I saute the onions and parboil the potatoes the evening before. If I’ll be serving biscuits, I mix the dry ingredients with the shortening and chill overnight, and then I add the buttermilk and mix the dough the next morning.
I keep several dozen of my favorite bakery’s croissants in my freezer to reheat as needed. They don’t seem to suffer from the process.
The maple syrup in this homemade granola gives the nuts and oats an amazing flavor.
Maple granola
3cups rolled oats
1cup dried unsweetened coconut chips
1cup pecans or walnuts, quartered
1/2cup pure maple syrup
1/2cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4cup sesame seeds
1teaspoon coarse salt
3/4teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2cup golden raisins
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix together oats, coconut, nuts, syrup, oil, sugar, sesame seeds, salt and nutmeg. Spread granola in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring every 10 minutes, for 40 minutes. Add raisins, and bake until granola is toasted, about 10 minutes more. Let cool completely.
Makes 7 cups. Maple granola can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Adapted from Nekisia Davis of Early Bird Foods
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