August 19, 2008

TWD - Granola Grabbers



I really liked the idea of this weeks TWD selection chosen by Michelle of Bad Girl Baking- love oatmeal and raisins. My family does not like oatmeal and raisins, and therein lies the problem. Only me to eat them - and after a weekend of overindulgence my clothes are straining at the seams :). But, what the heck!

Believe it not, I do have to limit my intake of sugar. My first step was to make my own granola without any added refined sugars. I adapted a recipe I found on the web and it turned out really good:

Sugar-free Granola

2 cups whole oats
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
1/4 c. chopped almonds
1/3 c. toasted wheat germ
1/3 c. + 2T unsweetened apple juice concentrate
1 t maple extract
1 t cinnamon
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275. In a glass measuring cup combine apple juice concentrate, maple extract, cinnamon and salt. Microwave for 1 minute.
In a large bowl combine the oats, nuts and wheat germ. Pour liquid mix over dry ingredients and mix well. Lightly oil a cookie sheet and spread the granola mixture in a single layer. Bake on a lower rack for a total of 45 minutes - stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool.

This made exactly the right amount for the Grabbers recipe. I didn't add additional nuts or wheat germ to the recipe. I also used white whole wheat flour (1/2 c) and whole wheat pastry flour (1/2c) since I was all out of all-purpose flour and substituted 1/3 c Splenda and 1T molasses for the sugars in the recipe. (You can find the original recipe on Michelle's blog.)

I really like these (too much!) They had a short-bread like quality to them due to the fairly large amount of butter used in the recipe. I froze the majority to take as a contribution to a picnic dinner we are going on at Wolftrap this weekend.


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13 comments:

Christine said...

Great job substituting the sugar. I need to cut back too and it is so hard. Glad you enjoyed the granola grabbers and nice of you to share. Great job!

chocolatechic said...

Yours look lovely.

Did you have to stand on your counter to get that photo?

Jayne said...

Nice job with the substitutions. It's funny - I have other (healthier) flours on hand, but out of habit, I don't use them when I bake new items. It's only AFTER that I realize I could have done some healthier tweaking. Thanks for the ideas!

Spike said...

You made your own granola? I'm impressed!

Jacque said...

Glad they turned out for you with the substitutions. I'm with you on the clothes... they must be shrinking! LOL

Great job!

Anonymous said...

Those look good! I am wowed to see someone else who got married when they were 18, besides myself...listening to some people, we are an oddity I guess. I didn't know how to cook then, either, but I sure h ad tolearn in a hurry! Good thoughts for substitutions.

Pamela said...

Wow. You made your own granola, huh. Great job. The cookies look pretty good!

Jessica Eiden Smedley said...

Sounds like your adjustments and substitutions made these cookies a winner! Great job.

Eleganza Strings/ The DeLadurantey Family said...

Oh! That granola recipe looks yummy! We try and make ours with no refined sugar as well.

Liz said...

It's a good idea to use sugar-free granola! I too used homemade granola, but my recipe had a bunch of honey--I should try yours next time.

Cathy said...

I love your granola recipe -- it sounds wonderful! While I liked the (store-bought) granola that I used, it was bordering on too sweet. I have the same problem with often being the only person in the house who will eat a particular thing, and eating it all myself. Nice job and great post!

Nancy/n.o.e said...

I used white whole wheat flour also - your cookies look delicious!
Nancy

Peggy said...

I'm so impressed you made your own granola. I would never think to do that! Good job.