Homemade Granola

We’ve recently been on a big yogurt and granola kick in this house, probably because the warm weather means buying more fresh berries. So when we ran out of granola a week into our grocery cycle, but still had plenty of yogurt left, I decided to make some homemade granola!

I used to make homemade granola a lot when I lived on my own, in particular a random peanut butter granola recipe I found. But I decided to make a classic honey and almond recipe for the 3 of us since that’s what we’d been buying plus we have a Costco bottle of honey. The recipe I found is super customizable and easy to adjust: I’m not a big dried fruit fan so didn’t add any, but you could very easily add raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried blueberries, or anything else you like. The recipe also calls for almonds in particular but what we had were some individual packets of assorted roasted nuts? So I just used a bunch of those! No need to buy a big expensive bag of nuts if you don’t have to. But you could still do truly any nut you like. The recipe also specifies that the key to this granola is that it’s equal parts oil and honey. Which means you could easily decrease the honey if you want something that’s less sweet, just made sure you decrease the oil too.

So here’s a super easy granola recipe! Perfect for when you run out of granola or just want to use up some oats. Bonus points for being an excellent snack that I will be bringing on my camping trip next week.

Easy Homemade Granola

Time: 35 minutes

Makes: 5 cups of granola

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup neutral oil (vegetable oil, coconut oil, etc.)
  • 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 cup sliced almonds (or any other nut of choice)
  • 1 cup raisins or other dried chopped fruit (or leave out)

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven tp 300°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with nonstick spray
  2. Whisk together the oil, honey, cinnamon, and salt until well combined.
  3. Add the oats and nuts ad stir to coat.
  4. Spread the mixture out onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. The granola is ready when it’s golden brown and the almonds have toasted. It will still feel wet coming out of the oven, but will harden as it cools.
  5. Add the fruit, tamp down, and cool. Store in an airtight container

Homemade “Oreos”

Ready for the easiest, best cookie ever? I saw this recipe on Pinch of Yum a few weeks ago and knew I immediately had to try it. I love Oreos and thought it would be fun to spend a snow day at home baking this super easy version.

As Lindsay says, these are only “Oreos” insofar as that they’re chocolate cookies with frosting sandwiched inside. But they honestly might be better than Oreos: the cookies are soft and super chocolatey, and truly what could be better than a filling of cream cheese frosting (the superior frosting, yes I said it)? These also couldn’t be easier thanks to boxed cake mix!

I made these once, a few days after coming home, and I think they were gone in 2 days. So my brother David humbly requested that I make them again before Christmas, and they were once again demolished by all (including our dog… don’t leave treats within dog distance for any period of time lol). I think I’m gonna make them for a third time with my boyfriend in the next week or so because they’re that easy and delicious. But you’ll just have to try them for yourself to see 😉

Homemade “Oreos”

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 box Devil’s Food cake mix
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup (one stick) butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Beat eggs, butter, vanilla, and cake mix together with an electric mixer until combined.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll into small one or two tablespoon balls. Place on a baking sheet. (Chill the dough for about 30 minutes if it’s too soft to roll)
  3. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.
  4. Beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar together with an electric mixer. Using a plastic bag with the end cut off, or a pastry bag (or spread with a knife because college), pipe a swirl of frosting onto one cookie and gently press a same-size cookie on top.
  5. Store in the fridge and enjoy!

Note: extra cream cheese frosting is delicious spread on graham crackers

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