Big Ginger – A Simple Granola Recipe
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Simple Granola Recipe – Do whatever the F@*%k you want.
Granola transcends the phrase Do whatever the F@*%k you want. Pardon my French, but it is true. And not in the Urban Dictionary way which states the phrase is used during argument between couples in a half-threatening manner to imply that if you do do it there will be consequences but rather in a way that you can do whatever the F@*%k you want and a great granola will be made.
Me: I am going to add some millet and quinoa to my granola instead of making 100% oat granola.
Granny: Do whatever the F@*%k you want, those ancient grains will be delicious.
Me: I am going to use syrup from a jar of stem ginger to sweeten it instead of honey so it has big ginger impact.
Granny: Do whatever the F@*%k you want. Who doesn’t love ginger! Add some macadamias for a tropical feel.
Me: Do whatever the F@*%k you want to your own granola. Wait – macadamias are a good idea.
The hardest part about making granola is deciding what to put in it. Once that is done, it is nothing more than mixing wet and dry ingredients and roasting it up.
Every simple granola recipe should be called do whatever the F@*%k you want granola or DWTFYW Granola.By doing so it would make it ever more clear to commenters across the web what you can and cannot add to granola. We have all seen the comments in the various blog comment sections- Goodness Miss-Perception, great looking recipe. Can I add raisins? Just once wouldn’t we like to see the blogger Miss-Perception, or any granola making blogger for that matter, either say “Hey,TessFromTalula thanks for your question! It your granola. Do whatever the F@*%k you want. (insert emoticon here)” Or just say “Hey CornHoleInOhio No, no you can’t add raisins. (insert emoticon here)” even though 2 paragraphs up – the one labeled add what ever fruit you like – says you can add whatever fruit you like (nuts, too).
Of course, most bloggers like Miss-Perception are more, well, granola than that. With all their liberal, drug free, whole grain moral fiber they think these commenters can be healed with agave syrup so they don’t say anything to make them mad.
Simple Granola Recipe – Add Any Fruit You Like
When it comes to the grains part of granola oats typically take center stage, but a dash of quinoa, millet, puffed rice, etc are easy additions. This is less a flavor play and more of a play to put our best earthy crunch on. Whole grains are good for you, go ancient to mix it up. Oooh, spelt!
To make choosing what should go into a granola and to make sure your DWTFYW attitude doesn’t go too crazy, pick a theme for your granola. An example theme might be Big Ginger. You might call it tropical, but Big Ginger reminds me of a red-headed girl I went to school with. Big Ginger could bench press me with one hand while eating a bowl of granola with her other hand. Oh, Big Ginger, I hope you are well wherever you are. Thanks for having my back! This granola is for you. I know, there was no quinoa back then. But I think you will like it!
Since this granola does have a tropical feel, macadamias and coconut are good choices. The choice of syrup can also bring big flavor to the party. Honey or maple syrup would be fine, but since we are going Big Ginger, an alternative – one I have not seen used before in granola – is stem ginger
And since we can DWTFYW and add any fruit we like, dried pineapple is a great choice. The pineapple is tasty on its own and is also a good match with the ginger and coconut.
Here is a little video that puts it all together!
The Video – Big Ginger – A Simple Granola Recipe.
And here is recipe in all it’s Big Ginger glory…
- 2 cups of rolled oats
- 1/2 cup of quinoa (red, black or white)
- 1/2 cup of millet
- 1 cup of unsalted macadamia nuts
- 1 cup of shaved, unsweetened coconut
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1/2 tsp of ground ginger
- 1 cup of dried pineapple
- 3/4 cup of stem ginger syrup
- 1/2 cup of sunflower oil
- 1/2 cup of chopped stem ginger
- 1 egg white
- 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 300F.
- In a medium bowl, mix the oats, quinoa, millet, macadamias, coconut, salt and dried ginger together until well combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients until they are well combined.
- Slowly drizzle the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients while stirring. Mix the ingredients until all the dry ingredients are fully and evenly coated.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour the granola onto the tray spreading it out as much as possible.
- Bake the granola for 45 minutes to an hour or until the granola is golden brown. To break up the granola into smaller pieces, stir every 10-15 minutes during baking.
- Remove the granola from the oven and let cool completely.
- Stir in the dried pineapple.
- Store in a airtight container.
- Any grains nuts and dried fruit can be used, just stick to the ratio of about 6-6-1/2 cups total dry ingredients:1cup wet ingredients. The dried fruit should be added after baking as should any chocolate.
- Other syrup sweeteners can be used like agave or brown rice syrup.
- Other vegetable oils can be used, even olive oil. Consider exploring flavored oils to add to the granola.
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