Friday, February 20, 2009

Lil Miss Bubbly's favorite (no sugar added) granola

Lil Miss Bubbly won't eat raisins.
She has eaten them before, but won't eat them no more.
'No raisins!' she tells her mommy. 'Nonono, not in my lunchpack!'
(and mommy sighs)
Now how do I make her eat a fiber packed snack!

So Mommy came up with this sneaky idea -
Mommy knew how much Lil Miss Bubbly loved granola.
Mommy had an adapted recipe, thanks to Molly, which was a big hit in her house.
She re-adapted it adding raisins. That's all.

Ingredients-
Sesame seeds - 1 cup
Rolled oats - 1 cup
Raw sunflower seeds - 1 cup
Unsweetened applesauce - 1/4 cup
Canola oil - 2 -3 tbsp
Salt - 1 pinch
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
Raisins -1/2 cup
Maple syrup - 1/2 cup

Method-
Soak raisins in water for a few hours or overnight. The raisins bulge up, absorbing the water.
(Did you know, back in India, moms used to sqeeze these soaked raisins using their hands and mash them up without any lumps and spoon feed it to infants who had baby tummy blues like constipation. This apparently made the baby blues go bye bye). I have not tried this, though.

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, add the dry seeds. Combine to mix it uniformly. In a blender jar, add the soaked raisins and applesauce, salt, cinnamon powder, maple syrup. Blend well. Now add the canola oil and blend well. Add the puree to the dry ingredients.
Mix thoroughly until evenly coated. Break lumps if there are any.

Spread the mixture evenly on the cookie sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on it after about 30 minutes. Mix it a few times in 10 minute intervals. When mixing, make sure to incorporate all the corners and mix evenly. When it is slightly crisp, remove and allow to cool.

When it has cooled, store in an airtight container. Snack as it is, or with homemade curd.
So Lil Miss Bubbly with her granola
Sat by the windowside snacking,
And went dreaming, flying as far as mmm.. Minneola.
(and mommy rejoices)
'Yum, I'll have fun granola-packing!'

LOL. Enjoy!