Sunday, August 15, 2010

SMS: Cherry Almond Granola


I remember one time when I was young smelling something absolutely incredible baking and I was positive my mom was making some delicious cookies. It turned out to be granola, and we were so disappointed that my mom actually did make some cookies. Luckily I have grown to like granola and was happy when Cherry Almond Granola was chosen for this week’s Sweet Melissa Sunday recipe. And it’s a good thing I like granola, ‘cos this recipe makes a TON.



Three nearly full eight-cup containers! Fortunately, granola lends well to sharing: I gave one container to Josh’s parents and I made Melissa’s Granola Breakfast Cookies to bring to work tomorrow. The group made the cookies a long time ago, but I used store-bought granola and added peanut butter, so I figured this was a good opportunity to make them properly. The cookies, as well as the granola, are outstanding. I think granola is a fun thing to make; once you have a good basic recipe, you can just go down the bulk food aisle and throw in whatever dried fruits and nuts strike your fancy. I actually like all the ingredients in Melissa’s original recipe, but I subbed dried apricots for golden raisins, since golden raisins + currants just seemed too raisiny for me.



In addition to being tasty, this is also such a simple recipe. You have to stir it every fifteen minutes, so it’s the perfect thing to bake on a lazy afternoon or when you have other kitchen projects. I rated the granola an 8 for Deliciousness and a 2.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 3.2. Thanks to Wendy of Pink Stripes for an excellent selection. You can find the recipe here on Wendy’s site and visit the Sweet Melissa site to see how the rest of the group fared this week.


Since we’re on the topic of granola, I must share something I saw in my local market recently: a $28.99 bag (24 ounces) of granola! It’s a local company and made with organic ingredients, but my goodness! It is a bit more reasonably priced on the company’s website.

10 comments:

Gloria - The Ginger Snap Girl said...

Margot, you granola looks perfect! You got a beautiful color on yours. I had to laugh seeing your 3 8 cup containers full! Good call on making the cookies. Those look great too.

Just me said...

I had a giggle at the containers too! I put mine in snap lock bags! I will have to try the cookies- my kids are disappointed it was just granola they could smell and not a cake!

rebecca @ beurrista said...

I will have to try the granola cookies recipe now-

I'm sure everyone loves all your baked goods and loves it when the recipes come out in huge quantities, because they get the delicious results of your labor!

Shandy said...

Delicious looking granola! I love the addition of dried apricots. I have granola coming out of my ears too.

The picture of the 28.99 bag of granola shocked me. What are stores thinking when they mark products up for re-sale? Crazy!

Beth said...

That looks amazing. Thank goodness there are less expensive options than $28.99 granola!

Cakelaw said...

Is it wrong to want granola for lunch ... This looks delicious.

Anonymous said...

Your granola looks great, and so do the cookies. I like stocking up on nuts and dried fruits at Trader Joe's.

Whoa, that's some expensive granola. I can't imagine it would be good enough to spend $29!

Unknown said...

I may be biased since I don't really eat granola, but even if I absolutely loved it, I can't imagine spending $30 on a relatively small bag of it! Holy moly. I halved the recipe and it still made a ton this week, but it's so easy to give away I didn't mind much. Glad the granola and the cookies were a hit!

Mimi said...

That's a lot of granola!
I wonder just how much of that granola they sell.
Mimi

Leslie said...

Your granola looks so yummy! I haven't made this one yet, although I bought the necessary dried fruits, etc. Seeing your jumbo containers, maybe I'll make 1/2 a recipe...