Today’s Produce Challenge = Coconut!
For this challenge, I decided to go with a breakfast favorite here in the Sage Fruit office, granola. And, it did not disappoint!
Recipe:
Apple Pie Granola – From One Dish Kitchen
Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 30 mins Total Time: 40mins
Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup coconut
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- pinch allspice
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup peeled , cored and diced apples
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine: oats, coconut, walnuts, sunflower seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.
- In a small pot, on medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the maple syrup and the salt.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
- Pour the butter/syrup mixture over the oats/nuts mixture and stir until well blended.
- Fold in the diced apples.
- Spread over a large baking sheet and cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 for even color.
Although I regularly see coconuts at my grocery store, I’ve eaten it more times than I can count and I drink coconut water, like leeks, I’d never actually purchased one. So, once again, I had to do a bit of research – How in the world do I open this thing?! I found all the information I needed right here.
Prep/Cook Time: Semi Accurate.
The prep time was on point. But, I found that my granola was not quite as crunchy as I would have like after the 30 minute cook time. So, I turned up the heat on my oven to 350 degrees, and cooked for another 15 minutes, stirring every 5. However, if you decide to turn up the heat, be sure to keep a close eye on it so you don’t end up with a burnt pan. If you don’t want to risk it, but still want extra crunch, keep your temp at 300 and continue checking every 5-7 minutes.
**Note** As you let your baking sheet cool, your granola will crisp up a bit more than what it was when you originally took it out of the oven.
Today, the apples I chose to use were Gala. The main reason for this is because, even though they are very sweet, they are not overly juicy. So, when making a crunchy granola, they will dehydrate quicker and match the overall texture of the other ingredients better.
I can’t recommend this recipe enough – It was a huge hit both at home and in the office. You will not regret making this Apple Pie Granola!
