Yummy Homemade Granola

 

Yummy Granola

I have been wanting to make homemade granola for a long, long time, but I never got around to it, don’t know why.  Well today was finally the day and it is a shame I didn’t do it sooner.  It was easy to make and delicious to eat.  It filled the house with a great cozy aroma.  When my husband got home he grabbed a handful straight off the cooling rack and being an accountant he began to wonder if it was more economical to make our own granola instead of buying it, not mention it just tasted better.   We didn’t finish the math because we were getting ready to go out for dinner, so I will have to answer that another day. 

When we got back home I was craving something sweet and made myself a bowl of granola, it hit the spot.  Enjoy!

Yummy Homemade Granola

• 4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup  shredded coconut
• 1 cup nuts of pecans
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• dash of nutmeg
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place rack in the center of the oven and grease baking sheet

Combine oats, pecans, coconut, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg.

In another bowl combine butter, honey, syrup and vanilla, mix well.  Pour over dry ingredients and toss until it is well coated.

Spread on to baking sheet and bake for 30 mins, until golden brown, stirring ab

 

out every 5 minutes.  Be sure not to over bake.

Remove from oven and cool on cooling rack.  The granola will still be a little soft but it will harden as it cools.

Enjoy in a bowl with some cold milk and fresh berries.

This is my weekend splurge, a chunk of Callebaut 60% Cocoa chocolate for the tartlets I am planning on trying this weekend.  Come back to see how they turned out.

Callebaut Chocolate

Pecan Pie….My Faaaaaavorite!

 

Pecan Pie Slice

My favorite pie of all time has to be pecan pie.  Actually I like anything and everything that is pecan.  It is my favorite nut.  To be honest I am not a big fan of nuts but if you toss some pecans in, I am all in. Yummy.  I just love how buttery they are, I honestly think they are the perfect nut.

Before I went out of town my co-worker had just come back from vacation in Kentucky….I think and she came back with a bunch of shelled pecans.  She was kind enough to give me some. 

Last night I was home with some free time and I was really craving something sweet.  Then I remembered the pecans.  I thought that I didn’t have any corn syrup so pie was question, so I was going to just make some candies pecans.  Then I came across a bottle of Karo way in the back of my cupboard!  SWEET!  I can make pie!

Pecan Pie

I don’t trust myself very much with pastries or dough so I use a premade pie crust. 

Pecan Pie

• 1 Cup White Corn Syrup
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/3 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/3 Cup Melted Butter
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 3 Eggs
• 2 Cups Roasted Pecans

1. Put the butter in the microwave until it is completely melted. During this step, preheat your regular oven to 350.
2. Mix together in the mixing bowl, corn syrup, brown sugar, salt, melted butter and vanilla 
3. Mix (slightly beat) eggs until they look like the ones shown in the picture to the left.
4. Add the eggs to the batter and stir until the batter looks as it did before you added the eggs.
5. Pour the pecan pie filling into pie shell.
6. Sprinkle the 2 cups of roasted pecans on top of the pecan pie filling. Some pecans will sink into the filling; while, others will remain on top. Now, put your pie in a preheated oven set to 350F for 1 hour to an hour and 10 minutes.
7. After the pie has been in the oven for about 30 minutes, take it out, and put strips of tinfoil around the edge to keep the pie crust from burning. Be careful not to spill you pie! The filling is runny and quite hot. Then, put the pie back in the oven.
8. After you put the pie back in the oven, it will need another 30 to 40 minutes. After about 30 minutes (a total of 1 hour in the oven) test the pie to see if it is done. You can test the pie by sticking a knife in the middle. If the knife comes out clean, the pie is done; if it comes out dirty, it needs about 10 more minutes in the oven.