This week for Sweet Melissa Sundays, Jessica of A Singleton in the Kitchen picked Granola Breakfast Cookies for us to try. The recipe for these cookies uses another recipe in The Sweet Melissa Baking Book, Cherry Almond Granola. That granola sounds delicious but has a few ingredients that I could not find locally, so I decided to try a granola recipe I noticed at The Michigan Maply Syrup Association site for Maple Walnut Granola. I had been browsing maple syrup recipes since we have a TON of maple syrup and I wanted some new ideas to use it with. I like to make my own granola and am always up for a new recipe. Granola is a really simple snack to make, and to make it even easier I use a tabletop roaster oven -- those big ones that are for sale everywhere around Thanksgiving, that rarely get used after Thanksgiving. I love to use it for making double batches of Chex Mix for my husband (his favorite treat), granola, and anything else that needs to be baked at a low temperature for a long time and stirred throughout baking.
Maple Walnut Granola
Michigan Maple Syrup Association
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup sesame seeds (this was an interesting addition to granola for me, thank goodness I bought big jar of them from Sam's Club)
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup oil (I used 1/4 cup canola oil)
1/2 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup honey
My extra additions after baking, I read that you should add your dried fruits to granola after baking so they don't get dried out :
1 and 1/2 cups dried cherries
1 and 1/2 cups golden raisins
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Combine oats, wheat germ, sesame seeds, coconut and nuts.
Add oil and stir until evenly distributed. Pour in maple syrup, stirring well.
Add honey and mix until well moistened and mixture is crumbly and sticky. Spread in a large shallow pan. Bake 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally for even browning until mixture is golden brown and dry. Cool and store in airtight container.
That's it for the granola, really easy! You can find the cookie recipe on Jessica's beautiful site -- A Singleton in the Kitchen, give it a try, I hope you will love it as much as we did! My only change to the recipe was to add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Baking them on insulated cookie sheets will make sure they stay soft and chewy.
These cookies were really easy to make, but a little difficult to photograph, they aren't the prettiest cookies, but they sure are delicious! How could you go wrong with whole wheat flour, dried fruits, coconut, wheat germ, oats, walnuts, and sweetened by Mother Nature with molasses, honey, and lovely maple syrup?
Before and after baking...
I will be making these cookies again for sure and can't wait to experiment with different add-ins, although I must say I think they are perfect as is with the Maple Walnut granola, my favorite granola cookie for sure. This is a wonderful recipe and our whole family enjoyed these yummy cookies :)