I love breakfast.
I'm sort of hit and miss whether I'm a morning person or not. Days like these I'm not. It's cold outside, it's dark I just would rather stay under the warm covers and maybe come out later, or maybe not. Breakfast is also my favourite meal of the day. There are so many choices, although I just stick to regular oatmeal or toast with peanut butter.
I put a call out on facebook what I should bake and MB responded with granola bars which got me thinking about granola. Man I love that stuff. And then my cousin-in-law sent me a fabulous recipe from Mark Bittman. Sold.
Granola is just a basic recipe of oats, honey or maple syrup, dried fruit and nuts. The combinations are endless. So while I was out shopping for my ingredients, I needed to pick up some more persimmons. While I was picking my lovely globe shaped hachiya persiommon, my eye caught a package. Dried persimmons. It's a sign right ? So I grabbed a package, along with a package of walnuts and that's how this granola came about.
I just had it for breakfast and it was amazing. Crunchy with a hint of sweetness, the dried persimmon are quite moist even though they are dry so they provide a good stickiness when you bite into them. I'm taking more to have with my yoghurt at lunch.
ps. I've over halfway finished my book for bookclub and the meeting is tonight. I still don't understand why I torture myself. But the book is AMAZING!
Persimmon, walnut & almond granola
[adapted from Mark Bittman]
6 cups large flake oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup slivered almonds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 cup honey
1/2 cup dried persimmon, chopped
1 cup raisins
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl combine oats, walnuts, almonds, salt, cinnamon and honey. Stir to combine, everything should be coated by the honey.
Place on rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The granola will get brown, but make sure it doesn't burn. The browner the mix gets, the crunchier it will be.
Remove from oven and add persimmon and raisins. Let cool to room temperature. Once cooled, place granola into an air tight container and keep in the refrigerator. Will keep indefinitely, or until you eat it all.
