auntie sarah's coconut granola.

SARAH is actually my mother-in-law ❤️ but one of her many other titles, “auntie sarah,” sounds much more fitting alongside a granola recipe. 😊

i just looove how mapley and crunchy and chunky her granola is - not all loose and sandy, no way.

the lighter crunch of all the coconut flakes against the crunchier crunch of the nuts & seeds….oooh i fancy that experience.

her granola seems a little bit different every time we have it, but that’s the beauty of a recipe that’s so versatile!

sarah makes it gluten-free by omitting the oats (probably why her version is so chunky, which i adore), but i love oats so i kept them in the recipe.

i used extra coconut flakes and a little extra maple syrup to compensate for sweetness in this recipe ratio.

another idea that would be great is to use melted coconut oil instead of the olive oil - or better yet, an equal combination of both!

make sure to taste your seeds in advance for freshness - i could tell the sunflower seeds that i used were a bit funky after it was a little too late.

chopped dried cherries are great in this granola. i used chopped dates and that is also lovely. i’m not too much of a dried cranberry fan, but they would be nice, too. there are also orange flavored dried cranberries that i have a random bag of in my miscellaneous foodstuffs bin. basically - any chopped up or small dried fruit of your choosing would suffice. or leave it out altogether!

….just had an idea. if this were a “dessert granola” (a thing??) you could toss in some chocolate covered almonds, raisins, acai berries, etc after the whole mixture has completely cooled.

YUM. a bonus snack mix recipe.

also a big shout out to the passionfruit flavor of the ellenos greek yogurt - holyyyyyy moses, it has to be one of the best things i’ve ever tasted. pete is nuts for passionfruit & lilikoi like they have growing all over in hawaii. those little tangy seeds and the bright juiciness will just make you feel alive!

this ellenos yogurt is a splurge. if we have it on hand, i’ll put a scoop of plain greek yogurt on the bottom of the bowl and a small scoop of the ellenos fancy yogurt on top, and then all the toppings. i would never let us eat the whole container in one sitting unless it were, say, christmas! ha! it is a special occasion treat for us. it is sooo delicious and rich and tastes like dessert!

this is now just veering into dessert for breakfast territory. 😛

this recipe yields a ton of granola - so feel free to halve anything to make a smaller batch, or give a jar of it to a friend or neighbor. 😊

i’ve been really enjoying having it around for variety and crunch in our morning yogurt bowls.

thank you to my sweet MIL, sarah, for sharing this with me!

Sarah’s Coconut Granola

Makes about 2 Quarts

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oats

• 1 cup raw pepitas, hulled pumpkin seeds

• 1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds (taste for freshness!)

• 1 1/4 cup walnuts or pecans, or a mixture of both, chopped

• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes

• 1 - 2 tsp. kosher salt, to taste

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil or melted coconut oil, or a mixture of both

• 2/3 cup pure maple syrup

• 1/2 cup chopped dates, dried cherries or cranberries

• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

• 1 - 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions-

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a large rimmed sheet tray with parchment or a silicone liner.

Gather and prepare all ingredients and combine in a large bowl until evenly coated with maple syrup and the oils. Add any extra salt to taste.

Evenly spread the granola across the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, tossing the granola every 15 minutes or so. Bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until all the components are evenly golden. Watch carefully for any burning during the last 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool completely. Store in glass jars or quart containers at room temperature.

Enjoy as a snack, on yogurt bowls, ice cream, oatmeal, with fruit, etc!

qp

blackberry & peach galette with cream cheese crumble.

easy summer treat!

i reluctantly turned on the oven in the middle of the day to make this - which is usually something i’m against during summer months…but sometimes you get an idea and you have to go with it.

or sometimes you have an aging peach that needs to be eaten NOW.

of course a fruit galette has become an easy foolproof summer dessert - but adding a streusel or crumble atop? that seems like a new thing to me.

cream cheeeeeese crumble to be exact.

i love a sweet, savory, tart & sour balance. since theres no sugar added to the fresh fruit, the sugary cream cheese crumble adds just the sweetness and texture that this rustic little pie needs.

galettes are great because they don’t have to be perfect, and they won’t be. it will look like a absolute pile of mess, but taste like a fancy pie.

and if you want to make this even easier, just use pre-rolled store bought pie dough. though i highly recommend making your own.

you could stop here with the raw sugar sprinkled on the crust……

or go hard with the salty sweet cream cheese crumble. mmm mmmm mmmmmmmm.

^ this looks like a wild pile of who knows what. ignore this photo.

burble burble burble.

obviously you can use whatever fruit you like - something that makes sense in a pie - use your best fruit judgment.

i’d say this tastes better cold! or maybe i was just too hot & bothered to thoroughly enjoy when it came out of the oven.

so use that delicious summer fruit, folks, and share a slice with a friend!

Blackberry & Peach Galette with Cream Cheese Crumble

Makes (1) 12-inch Galette

Serves 4-6

Total Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes - Active Time: 30 minutes - Bake Time: 30 minutes

(Crust Recipe from Alison Roman’s ‘Dining In’ Cookbook, “The Only Piecrust” recipe - halved here)

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

• 1 tsp. sugar

• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter (10 TB), cut into 1-inch pieces, chilled

• 1/2 TB apple cider vinegar

• 1/8 - 1/4 cup ice water

For the cream cheese crumble:

• 4 oz. cream cheese, chilled

• 1/3 cup flour of choice

• 1/3 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar

• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

For the filling, etc.:

• 2 ripe peaches, sliced

• 1 cup fresh blackberries, halved if large

• 1/4 of a lemon

• 1 egg + 1 tsp. water (for crust egg wash)

• raw sugar (optional)

Instructions-

Make the dough/crust ahead of time to allow 2 hours to chill, or chill overnight:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar & salt. Add the chilled butter cubes and toss to coat in the flour mixture, then use your hands to smash the butter between your fingers. Incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until it appears shaggy and flaky.

Combine the vinegar and the ice water and drizzle it over the flour + butter mixture. Run your fingers through the mixture to evenly distribute the water through the flour until the dough starts coming together.

On a lightly floured work surface, knead the combined dough a few times to gather up and incorporate any dry bits. It will not be smooth or shiny. Knead the shaggy mass with your palms a few more times, then pat into a flat disk about 1 inch thick. Wrap the disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Make the cream cheese crumble:

Add all ingredients for the crumble in a small bowl and gently combine with forks or your clean fingers to create sugary coated crumbles of cream cheese blobs in various sizes. Chill for 5 minutes if the blobs have softened too much.

Put it all together:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a piece of parchment on a baking sheet and lightly spray with cooking spray.

Roll out chilled galette crust on a lightly floured work surface until it’s about 1/8 inch thick, depending how big/small, thick or thin you’d like your galette to be.

Pile the fresh peaches and blackberries in the center of the rolled out dough, leaving a thick 2-3 inch border. Fold the edges over, just to contain the fruit like a pocket, leaving the fruit in the center exposed still.

Brush the crust liberally with egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and squeeze lemon all over the hot fruit, which should be soft and bubbly. Cover the entire galette with the cream cheese & sugar crumbles, gently pressing as much as you can into the edge of the crust. Return to oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool until slightly firm, then lift the galette on the parchment to cool on top of a cooling rack.

Slice and serve a la carte, or with ice cream. Store in the fridge. This is a great cold treat, too!

qp