The Apple of My Eye

Hey guys!

Happy second day of SPRING! Hopefully, you are all seeing some fantastic weather FULL of all the extras from Bambi! As for me? Well, I guess I jinxed myself going on and on about how MARVELOUS it was this past weekend, because since then, we’ve had a torrential downpour, a tornado warning, and today, they’re calling for snow.

So, who wants to move to Tennessee? 😯

But enough about crappy weather…I want to say a bigΒ HUGE thank you to each and every one of you who left a comment on Monday’s post wishing me well on my recovery. I want you guys to know that your good vibes are indeed working!

After seeing the physical therapist on Tuesday, I was given a list of exercises and stretches to work on at home. I spent most of that night and a good part of yesterday morning completing all of my assigned “homework” and GUESS WHAT!

At my SECOND appointment, I showed IMMENSE improvement!Β 

I can almost straighten my leg all the way, I can almost bend it to 90 degrees, and I can ALMOST dance a jig! πŸ˜‰

So, to show my gratitude for all the well wishes, good vibes, and heart-felt prayers, please, do me the honor of accepting this freshly baked pie…

Apple Pie Granola 3GRANOLA!!

It’s only been what…two weeks since I first teased you with it?!

Well, I polished off the last of my batch yesterday morning…which is actually a testament to its shelf life…see, I was just looking out for you guys! πŸ˜‰

Granola

With Greek yogurt, apple sauce, and of course, cinnamon!

But all excuses aside, I figured it was about time I stopped galavanting around grocery stores on motorized wheelchairs dawdling and finished editing the pictures for this post!

Apple Pie Granola.Ohhh, purrrrrrrdy! πŸ˜€

When I first saw Meghan’s recipe for Apple Pie Granola, I KNEW I had to make it. I mean, what’s not to love? Crunchy walnuts? warm spices? sweet cranberries? all enveloped in the flavor of a fresh crisp apple!

So I gathered all of my ingredients…

Walnuts?…check!

Spices?…check!

Cranberries?…check!

Fresh crisp apple?…mother &%&$&!!!

Of course at this point, I already had my mouth mind set on crunchy apple pie goodness so what did I do? I Googled the hell out of some granola recipes of course!

Apple Pie Granola 1

In the end, this is what I came up with…and I have to say, for my very FIRST granola recipe, I’m pretty darn proud of myself! πŸ˜€

Apple Pie Granola

by Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Keywords: bake breakfast snack dairy-free vegan vegetarian oats fall winter

Ingredients (Makes 14 servings)

  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 2 teaspoons apple pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom (optional but HIGHLY recommended)
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 2 Tablespoons blackstrap molasses (or regular molasses, though blackstrap is FULL of nutrients!)
  • 1 teaspoon maple extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter extract (optional)
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 2/3 cup dried cranberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350Β°F.
2. Combine oats, spices, and nuts in a large bowl and stir well.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together apple juice, molasses, and extract(s).
4. Pour liquid mixture over oat mixture and stir well.
5. Spread evenly onto a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes (stirring halfway through) or until oats are crisp and golden.
6. Allow to cool before stirring in cranberries.
7. Serve over creamy Greek yogurt for a light breakfast or snack.

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Nutrition facts per 1/3 cup serving:

Screen shot 2013-03-21 at 2.45.50 AM

Yes, that would be ONE THIRD cup serving…none of that measly ONE FOURTH cup bull&%$!

Seriously, granola companies? Why must you tease us?!

Apple Pie Granola 4

It’s light, it’s crunchy, it’s warm, and FILLED with everything but bull&%$Β flavor!

Apple Pie Granola 2

Actually, it reminds me of some of my favorite pancakes! πŸ˜€

Have you ever made homemade granola?

What are your favorite granola add-ins?

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53 Responses to The Apple of My Eye

  1. Ummmm… Yummmm!!!?!? This looks amazing!

    I tend to like my granola either full of chewy raisins and cinnamon or apple cinnamon!

  2. I love the addition of cardamom, and apple juice…now that’s clever, although I would expect nothing less from you. You are the kitchen queen of clever.

    I make a double batch of granola every ten days or so, and it seems to get the Hubby and I both through those days. It’s such a great breakfast without any skeevy ingredients, and you can chose your level of chewiness. Love it.
    Some fun add-ins are coconut, or melted peanut butter and then add chocolate chips at the end. Or I like doing almond extract instead of vanilla; it literally changes everything.

    Great news about the knee. Keep doing those exercises (like you didn’t know that). Have they done the ultrasound thing with lotion on your knee in PT yet? If not, you should ask for it. It’s like butter baby, but better.

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Meghan, Meghan, Meghan…always there to boost my little ego! God, I love you woman! And now you’ve got me craving all kinds of stuff with your coconut, melty pb, and chocolate chips! Damn you! <- See, I love you and hate you at the same time! πŸ˜‰ Almond extract is like the bibiddy bobiddy boo of the spice world, I swear! Magic, pure MAGIC! They haven't done any ultrasounds, but I did get the electro therapy on Thursday. It's helping to contract my quad so that I can build it back up (muscle atropy) and then be able to lift my lower leg...it was an "interesting" feeling. At first, I swore it felt like bugs were crawling under my skin, but once I got used to it, it just felt tingly.

  3. Never made home made granola but glad you finally shared this recipe as I so need to make this!! πŸ™‚

  4. That sounds amazingly delicious AND still healthy! How do you do it, Heather?! I hope you’re continuing to feel better!!

  5. I can imagine using this to make an apple crisp! It would be divine! Glad to hear about your FABULOUS progress. That’s incredible…and it will only keep getting better. Soon enough, you WILL be doing a jig! πŸ™‚

  6. I’ve never understood how granola companies can justify 200 calorie 1/4 cup servings. Like, who are these tiny people who can only eat 1/4 cups of food at a time. That’s like, a handful! Love the 1/3 cup and shout out to those crazy folks.

    Yay for you feeling better! It sounds like you are making bounds improvement wise. I hope all keeps on going well and you can get back to normal soon. πŸ™‚

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      I know, right? Tiny people with miniature little hands and a warped mind! Haha! Thank you so much for the well wishes, Madison! I can’t even tell you how much I just want to be “normal” again…ya know, on the outside anyway! πŸ˜‰

  7. I go through granola-making phases, but I LOVE it. It is so fun to play around with flavors and add-ins. In fact, I have my own Apple Pie Granola, but it did not have the fun addition of cardamom or maple, which I’m thinking would have taken it up a notch. I added some quinoa for crunch and also dried apples–the soft ones you can buy at Wal-Mart. Mama Smart was an obsessive fan.

    Watch out, you will be making more varieties of granola than you know what to do with.

    Well, OK, you should eat them. Obviously. πŸ™‚

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Gahhhhhh! I have those dried apples! Why didn’t I think to add them?! Now I’m gonna have to make it again…oh darn! πŸ˜‰ Course, knowing how I am, it’ll probably end up turning into a completely different! I swear I have the hardest time repeating recipes! Lol

  8. Oohmmmmmmmyummmmmaaaahamazinggg. Thank you!! And just for your record – we have pouring rain outside NOW. And I should head off to the office on my bike, but I refuse since I just washed my hair. Sorry weather, sorry boss, but that is not going to work.
    ENough – I LOVE that recipe!! I am not a hige granola fan, but this healthy version is definitely tempting!! I love dried figs in granola. SO GOOD.

    I might stick this together to a bar! So I could take it with me (on the bike)! Bahahahahaa….

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Ohhhh, FIGS!! I love dried figs, but honestly I can’t think of ever having them in granola before…and now you’ve totally given me an idea! These would be GREAT in bar form…maybe add a little honey/syrup + almond butter? And yes, the perfect bike snack! Hmm, too bad it won’t protect your hair, though! πŸ˜‰

  9. I love making and eating homemade granola, I will have to try this apple pie granola recipe!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Oh yeah, the eating IS the best part, isn’t it? πŸ˜‰ Let me know what you think if you try it, love!

  10. I can’t believe you’ve never made granola before!!! This looks like an amazing first try. Love the cardamom!

    Sooooo happy for your knee!! Hope you can spend more time off the couch very very soon.

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      I’ve made it before (only two, maybe three times?)….but not by making up my own recipe. I was always afraid it wouldn’t be sweet enough or it would be TOO sweet, or I’d put something in it that would burn…Ha! Obviously, I overthink things sometimes! πŸ˜‰

  11. Calee says:

    YAYYYY for knee bending! Boooo for tornadoes. Sounds like you’re having Iowa weather.

  12. Yahoo for getting better!!!!!!

    As for that granola – that would be crack for me in this house. I would never be able to portion control!!! Man that looks amazing!!!!!

  13. Yay! So glad to hear your getting better!
    The granola looks and sounds amazing! I love making my own granola but tend to make ones that include peanut butter and chocolate. I am sharing one on my blog today that has Apricots and Almonds though. I was trying to make granola bars for my love nugget but it turned out to be granola. Not a bad fail for a recipe though πŸ™‚

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Ha! Been there, done that with the bars before! Heck, I had some cookie bars once…COOKIE bars…that ended up being cookie crumbles/granola! Epic fail but hey, it went great on Greek yogurt and smoothies! πŸ˜‰

      I love apricots and almonds together! I need to check out your recipe for sure!

  14. I love homemade granola and this looks far better than anything I have come up with!! And the pictures are beautiful!

  15. I have never tried making granola– seems so easy! I like your addition of the Apple Pie Spice–I need to get my hands on some of that πŸ™‚

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      I’ve made it only a couple of times, but this was my first time creating a recipe myself. It really is SO easy! I was always afraid it would be too sweet or not sweet enough…or that it wouldn’t be crunchy enough, but it really turned out great…especially with the cardamom!

  16. Yayyy knee improvement! Definitely good news.

    I used to make homemade granola a lot, but I haven’t made any in a year or two. I should think about doing that soon – probably starting with this one ;-D

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      I’ve only made granola a couple of times in the past following other recipes…can’t believe I forgot how easy it was! I love trying all the different brands at the store, but it’s so much better when you can make your own and throw in just about anything! What I really want to try doing is experimenting with granola CLUSTERS! I always end up picking those out the bag first! Lol

  17. betty says:

    mmmm..yapplesauce. love it.. sounds so good with granola on it!

  18. I have to make almost all my own granola since pretty much all packaged granolas contain the nuts I’m allergic to. I’ve even made an apple pie one before! I like how you used apple juice to make yours though – what a great idea! My favourite granola add ins are almonds (thank you allergy gods for sparing me of an allergy to this beautiful nut) and coconut!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      I was pleasantly surprised with how it came out with the apple juice…especially since it gave me something to do with the bottle of juice the man-friend bought and decided to leave at my house. I’m not a big juice drinker normally, but it worked great in this!

  19. whaaattt.?! Sweet mother of all that is holy, this must be mine!

  20. Emily says:

    Drooling…

    And, um, those nutritional stats are AMAZING. Although, this could have a zillion calories and I’d probably still eat it because it looks that good. Not to mention, I have no self control when it comes to granola….my hand will make its way into the bag whether I like it or not!

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      Thanks Emily! And I totally understand about the sneaky granola fingers! I have to hide bags in the back of my pantry so that I don’t eat the entire thing in a day! Lol

  21. purelytwins says:

    cardamom (optional but HIGHLY recommended) —> totally agree- we love that spice!!! the best!

  22. Not gonna lie – I’m definitely not the biggest granola fan, but apple pie spice might just win me over…. especially if Greek yogurt and applesauce are involved. Holy.yum. I think one of the main reasons I don’t go crazy for granola is that it’s just too chewy and dense for me, whereas I like my cereals to be a lot more flakey. Can we still be friends? I’ll bring the coconut Greek yogurt πŸ˜€

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      I definitely prefer a crunchy granola over a chewy one…that texture is just too “weird” for me…like soggy cereal or something…bleh! What I REALLY want to do is experiment a bit more and try making some granola with big ol’ fat clusters! Because THAT in my opinion is the BEST part! πŸ˜€

      And girl, you could get away with anything with me if you waved that yogurt in front of my face! Lol

  23. Jessie says:

    Can I pretttyy please (with a cherry on top) come live with you for like a week? I want to be able to experience all these awesome dishes you come up with first hand??!!! I promise to do the dishes.

  24. Allie says:

    Wooo hooo! Let’s hear it for healing knees! And let’s not hear it for 70 degrees dropping to 25 degrees. WTF, Tennessee?? Bring back the sun & spring already.

  25. This sounds to DIE for! I love cardamom!

  26. OH YUM! This looks so good! I tried making granola one time…it didn’t quite work out the way I hoped, but I’m HOPEFUL I can get it right next time. πŸ˜‰

    • kissmybroccoli says:

      What happened? Did it burn? That’s what I was most afraid of…and the reason it took me so long to try making my own recipe…I always thought I’d put in all that effort and then murder it in the end! Lol

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