Granola Madness

I woke up this morning after a completely sleepless night staring at the ceiling, got ready & headed to work where I’m paid to talk all day. In my morning routine I don’t interact with anyone until after I get through the doors to my office & start greeting my somewhat cheery colleagues. Usually I don’t mind this as I quite like a bit of peace in the mornings. Wouldn’t you know it though, I got to work, opened my mouth & realized…. I had no voice. I have been silenced! Clearly the universe must think I talk too much so it’s shutting me up temporarily (I hope). The other possibility is that it’s a twisted joke, how ironic that I’m voiceless in a job where I’m required to speak constantly.

Wait for it… it gets better. In an effort to take things a bit easier I asked my boss kindly if I could do some of our learning packs. You know, increase my knowledge and stay quite for an extended period of time. Wouldn’t you know it, my computer wouldn’t co-operate either. The training courses wouldn’t load on my system. Go figure. I suppose moments like this are put in place to keep us all laughing & see the funny side of things. Maybe it’s time for a new career however.

I think the message I’m getting here is that being a full-time tech-geek is not my calling in life. Sure it can be fun, sometimes I’m even kind of good at it, but realistically I should be in the kitchen, covered in flour & singing along to ‘bad religion’ on the radio. Maybe even trying to dance along to that new ‘black eyed peas’ track, you know the one, something about partying. I say try because I have no rhythm. None. Nada. Zilch. No matter, I don’t let it stop me from bouncing around. I digress though, I actually had some exciting news. Starting September, I’ll only be going part-time as a tech-nerd & I’ll start work part-time as a baker, in an actual bakery. I’d say pastry chef but that sounds far too fancy. Still, it’s exciting none-the-less right!

Ok, enough of that though, here’s the reason you probably came to visit. You’re after the recipe. The chewy-granola recipe. The one I spoke about over a year ago & am only just now sharing. Shame on me I know, but I like to keep a little anticipation going.

Left to right in a clockwise rotation: coconut, walnut, sesame seeds, almonds, sunflower seeds. ( & my checkered kitchen floor behind it )

Ingredients: – 100g walnuts, chopped – 100g almonds, chopped – 100g sesame seeds – 50g dried coconut – 50g sunflower seeds – 380g gluten-free rolled oats – 1 tsp vanilla – 0.5 tsp salt – 190g butter – 190g brown sugar – 170g honey – 100g dried apricots, chopped – 100g chocolate chips

Directions: – preheat oven to 160C. – combine the nuts, seeds, coconut, oats & salt in a bowl & mix thoroughly. – in a medium sauce pan, combine the sugar, butter & honey. Cook on medium high heat until it begins to bubble a light golden brown. Remove from the heat & set aside to cool. Once cooled, add vanilla. – add the butter & sugar mixture to the nuts & seeds, mix well & then add in the apricots & chocolate. – grease a baking pan & line with parchment. – add the granola mixture to the pan, and pat down to form a smooth, compact & even layer of granola. – bake for 30 minutes. – allow to cool & then cut into desired sizes.

Tools/ Equipment/ Machinery/ Ingredients:

Machinery:

Electric Scale - Etekcity - http://amzn.to/2xkKpQk

Stand Mixer - Kenwood - http://amzn.to/2yqXPiH

Candy Thermometer - Etekcity - http://amzn.to/2xklw7k

Food Processor - Cuisinart - http://amzn.to/2xkkZqK

Tools:

Silicone Spatula - Zyliss - http://amzn.to/2y3Srkw

Chef's Knife 8" - Miyabi - http://amzn.to/2fUtyRK

Cake tins & Pie Plates:

Square Cake Tin - Patisse - http://amzn.to/2xkn5Ce

Tart Tin Loose Bottom 9.5” - Patisse - http://amzn.to/2xje3u2

Ingredients:

Flaxseed Meel - Bob's Red Mill - http://amzn.to/2ybK0Rm

Millet flour - Bob’s Red Mill - http://amzn.to/2iBZqYw

Oat Flour - Bob's Red Mill - http://amzn.to/2fNUuyZ

Potato Starch - Bob's Red Mill - http://amzn.to/2yKpYgH

Quinoa Flour - Amisa Organic - https://amzn.to/2oyWVg9 Sorghum Flour - Bob's Red Mill - http://amzn.to/2yClSf5 Sweet White Rice Flour - Bob's Red Mill - http://amzn.to/2y2xmXK

Tapioca Starch - Bob's Red Mill - http://amzn.to/2xjv879

Vanilla Extract Organic - Simply Organic - http://amzn.to/2xXdt2e

Vanilla Beans - Vanilla Products - http://amzn.to/2yLMqWQ

White Flour GF - Dove's Farm - http://amzn.to/2z1b5I1​

Xanthan Gum - Bob's Red Mill - http://amzn.to/2zoYxuC

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#tools #equipment #machinery #baking #cooking #fondant #modelingtools #chef #chefslife #pastrychef #glutenfree