Granola Crumble/Museli

Well this was meant to be my New Years post for 2010 but since I was delayed trying to find my pictures it only comes out now; but nevermind. I'd written up a paragraph about my resolutions but I think I'll simply summarize it. 2009 was a year that I discovered my obsession with food, but I didn't achieve much with it; this year however I will aim to cook and bake and post as much as I possible can (I'm hoping at least once a month) and to constantly try to challenge myself. I don't know how far I can go, but I'll put my everything into it that's for sure. :)

Anyway, enough with the boring stuff, continuing on to the food (since that's why we're all here right?). I used this recipe from Eat and Be Happy to make some Crunchy Granola Bars. Previously I've never even eaten rolled oats before, but I was sure that I'd love them like all other healthy yummy foods out there. When I took it out of the oven and the warm aroma of cinnamon and honey overwhelmed me... the thing I love just as much as cooking is the smell of what I'm making~

Crunchy Granola Bars - from Eat and Be Happy

Ingredients:
3 1/2 C rolled oats
1/4 C vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C mixture of nuts -I used walnuts and cashews because they're my favourite-
1/2 C dried cranberries -substituted with sultanas, or are they the same thing?-
1/2 C pineapple juice -I omitted this-
1/4 C honey -reduced the amount-
1/4 C packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven at 175C. Line an 8″ square pan with aluminium foil and set it aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, salt and oil together. Mix well and tip the oat mixture into the prepared pan.
3. Bake it for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until the oat mixture is lightly toasted and golden brown. Remove the pan from oven and tip the oat mixture back into the large bowl. Turn the oven temperature down to 150C.
4. -I only soaked the sultanas in water before using them- Combine the dried cranberries and pineapple juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, remove the pan from heat and set aside.
5. Toast the mixed nuts in a pan until fragrant. Remove from pan. Coarsely chop half of the nut mixture and using a food processor, grind the rest of the nut mixture till finely ground. Add both the coarsely chopped and finely ground nuts to the oat mixture.
6. Drain the dried cranberries and add it to the oat mixture as well.
7. Combine the honey and brown sugar in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and cook until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and stir the cinnamon and vanilla extract in. Pour the honey mixture into the bowl of oat mixture.
8. Mix the oats, mixed nuts mixture and honey mixture really well. Tip the mixture into the prepared pan and press the oat mixture into the pan.
9. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the granola bars are golden brown.
10. Remove the pan from the oven, let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing the bars from the pan. Slice into 8 bars, wrap each bar individually in plastic wrap and store them in an airtight container. Makes 8 bars

They turned out as crumble since I used too big of a pan that the mixture wasn't packed enough, but nevermind.I ended up eating it with natural yoghurt and drizzled with honey... the most delicious and filling breakfast I've had with a long time.

Ready to be consumed solely by me.