Chocolate Kissed Grain-ola

Food Storage has worked its way into my heart. It must be a parasite, boring itself into a place where it knows I will never be rid of it. Oh, well. If it is here to stay, we might as well enjoy it. Granola is a great way to use some of the food stored under the stairs.

This recipe originally came without the cocoa, vanilla, or Raspberry enlightenment. Both versions are good. It is especially good with Mom's homemade yogurt in a parfait. This granola is low in sugar and oil, and it is just as tasty as other recipes. Next time I will try it with the rolled 6-grain rolled oatmeal that Mary gave me when I helped her organize her storage room, and you could easily triple the cocoa powder without it being too overwhelming.

Homemade yogurt and blueberries make a great pairing to soften up the granola.

Grain-ola

4 C old fashioned oats

3/4 C salted sunflower seeds

1 C walnuts or macadamia nuts, halves or in quarters

1 1/2 C unsweetened coconut

1 1/2 C dried fruit, chopped (mixed berries, ginger, tropical fruit, etc.)

zest of 2 oranges

3/4 C honey

1/4 C oil

1 t vanilla

1 t cocoa (optional)

1 t Raspberry Enlightenment from Penzeys (optional)

leftover cereal (Rice Crispies, Wheaties, Bran Flakes, etc.)

Measure the oil and honey into a microwave safe dish and heat 30-60 seconds until it is warm and runny. Add the vanilla, cocoa, orange zest, and Raspberry Enlightenment to the honey and oil. This ensures it is evenly mixed throughout the batch of granola.

In a large bowl, mix the granola, nuts, and coconut. Stir in the honey mixture to evenly coat. Put onto 2 rimmed baking dishes and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Add the dried fruit and let everything cool on the sheet. Mix in any extra cereal if desired and store in an air tight container.

Sugarless Coconut Cookies

These wonderful coconut cookies are just what the doctor ordered. They are sweetened with bananas, sweetened coconut and chocolate. Yum-o.


First, mash up 3 bananas. I felt really clever when I thought of the potato ricer, thinking it would create perfectly mashed bananas. It turned into a gloppy mess, but the bananas got mashed.


A cookie scoop makes life a lot better. If you don't have a cookie scoop, go out right now and get one. They are fabulous. With a cookie scoop you can make cookies three times as fast, you don't have to put your grubby hands on the cookie, and you can gain even more weight (easy cookies get made much more frequently, and therefore, you eat many, many more cookies.) But this is about why you should get a cookie scoop, so forget that last thing.

Smash them down a bit - these guys don't flatten at all in the oven. Then realize that I forgot to put in the chocolate chips. *GASP* That will never do. Put everything back in the bowl and throw in some chocolate chips.

Ahhh...that's better. A tray of perfectly flattened cookies ready for the oven.

And here they are - all packed up and ready to be delivered. Will you be my friend if I bring you cookies once in a while?

This adorable box is from Sweet Celebrations. I went to get some dipping chocolate, only to be affronted by a "Going Out Of Business" sign on the front door. Sheesh. They were out of chocolate, but I got a bunch of cookie cutters, goodie boxes, and cupcake liners.


Coconut Cookie Recipe:

3 large ripe bananas, well mashed
1 t vanilla
1/4 C coconut oil - barely warm so it isn't solid
2 C rolled oats
1/2 C flax meal - or almond meal (ground up almonds)
1/3 C coconut
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
6 ounces chocolate chips (1/2 a bag)

Mix it all together and bake at 350 for 13 minutes, until they start to get golden brown.