Lemon and Honey Granola

I think I might have gotten a little--just a little--tired of dessert food this holiday season. Monica and I were worked on a big baking project over break (you'll hear more about it soon!) and I turned out about a dozen cakes in two weeks. Between all the Christmas cookies and chocolate we went through, I started craving savory food and fruit. 

This granola fits the bill perfectly as a light, fruity breakfast to start the day. In contrast to a lot of store-bought granola, which always seems a little too sickly-sweet with dried fruit or weighed down with chocolate, this granola gets a bright flavor from both lemon juice and zest. I don't know why I never thought of introducing citrus to granola before; the lemon lifts the granola from a stale pantry food (or fished from the bottom of your backpack food) into something fresh and homemade.

Granola was one of the first things I learned how to bake completely from scratch. I remember feeling a sense of surprise that the little brown bar that seemed intrinsically linked to its foil package and corn syrup-y sweetness could actually be made at home--and what's more, was quite easy to make and had the potential to taste so good.

I highly recommend the addition of freeze-dried fruit to this granola; it adds a pop of color and tartness, without the sugar and funky preservative flavor of dried fruit.

You can make a pretty big batch of this granola in under an hour, even accounting for hauling your baking supplies up and down the stairs outside to the communal kitchen, almost getting locked out of the dorm, and forgetting the citrus zester in your room and zesting the lemon by hand.

The granola will keep for a few weeks, but it will probably disappear from your kitchen quite quickly.
-Caroline

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Lemon and Honey Granola

Click here for the printer-friendly recipe
Yields about 7-8 cups of granola

Ingredients
4 cups rolled oats (see notes)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
½ cup honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of one lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
1 cup puffed rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
1 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
1 cup raw pepitas
½ cup roughly chopped raw almonds
¼ cup freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries, finely chopped (optional; I just like the extra pop of color and tartness they add)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Toss together the oats, oil, and salt. Spread evenly over a large cookie sheet or jelly roll pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, shaking the pan two to three times during baking. 

Reduce the heat to 325 degrees.

In a microwaveable bowl, mix together the brown sugar, honey, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Microwave on high for about 1 minute, or until the mixture just begins to simmer. 
Place the cooked oats into a large mixing bowl. Add the rice cereal, coconut, pepitas, and almonds. Pour the honey/lemon mixture over the dry ingredients and mix until well-combined.

Line a 11x17  jelly-roll pan with foil, and grease with vegetable oil. 

Turn the sticky granola mixture onto the pan. Rub some vegetable oil into your palms, and use your hands to press the granola into an even layer. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool. Peel the granola away from the foil and break into small chunks. Toss in the freeze-dried strawberries, if using them. Enjoy!

Notes:
Quick oats can be used in place of rolled oats. Just reduce the toasting of the oats from 15 minutes to about 7-8 minutes. To make this recipe gluten-free, make sure to use certified gluten-free oats.

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Feel Good Cake + Vegan Chocolate Pudding from The Holistic

Vegan? Nutritious? Caroline, where's the butter and sugar I came here for? I guess that stuff is alright, but really? How about I just slip out and come by next week...

Noooo, don't leeeeave meeee! (Insert image of me clutching your shirttail while digging in my heels and making skidding noises across the floor like in the cartoons).

Okay, you still there? Promise? Because you see, this cake is actually pretty terrific. I recently started working with the amazing Alice and Nina, two undergrads here at Harvard who founded The Holistic, a healthy foods start-up. One of their main products is this lovely Feel Good Cake, which they were kind enough to let me sample and photograph.

I first met Nina sometime freshman year, very briefly in the communal kitchen of the Matthews dorm. While I was gleefully working a hunk of butter into some scone dough (these scones, I think), she was making raw vegan brownies that she sold to people on campus.

In the past two years, Nina and Alice have expanded The Holistic (while travelling the globe with a toaster oven, baking cakes, how cool is that??), doing catering events and retail, and perfecting this Feel Good Cake. It's an all-natural, gluten-free, vegan chocolate cake, made from things like chickpeas, avocado, and almond flour (and has no refined sugar!). While I won't lie and say it tastes exactly like butter and sugar-based chocolate cake, it is delicious, rich, and moist, indulgent without being too heavy. 

I don't approve of the gluten-free or paleo fad (or rather, going gluten-free when you don't actually have a wheat allergy), but I do believe in eating healthy (really guys, I do!), being aware of what we eat, and knowing where it came from. Nina and Alice have created a cake that really is good for you, and isn't just masquerading as healthy under the guise of being "gluten-free." That doesn't mean you should go and eat a whole cake and call it dinner (I believe moderation is just as important as healthy eating), but it is made with ingredients that are naturally healthy and nutritious.

Nina and Alice are looking to expand The Holistic outside the Boston area, and launched a Kickstarter campaign to get the funding. (So hop on over to their page if you think this cake looks amazing and you want to get your hands on some.)

They were also kind enough to allow me to share their vegan chocolate pudding recipe with you today. If anything, it's better than traditional chocolate pudding, richer and more chocolate-y. This pudding gets its creaminess from avocados, and is ridiculously easy to make (easier than its egg and cornstarch-based counterpart!) It's a perfect afternoon snack to have on hand and might just keep you from reaching for the junk food. 

So give this pudding a try, and check out The Holistic's Feel Good Cake. It's not the end-all be-all to healthy eating (I have some issues with the "super food" idea too), but it's a good start. And, you know, delicious.

-Caroline

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Vegan Chocolate Pudding

From The Holistic
Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients
1 medium ripe avocado
1/3 cup maple syrup, agave nectar, or honey (or to taste)
5 tablespoons cocoa powder or raw cacao powder
1/4 cup water* (see notes)

Directions
Peel the avocado and remove the pit. Place in a blender with the maple syrup (or your sweetener of choice). Blend well until smooth.

Add the cocoa powder and water, and blend again until smooth. 

Pour into serving cups and serve at room temperature, or chilled. Decorate with fruit, if desired.

Caroline's notes:
*You could probably sub in almond or rice milk here, or coconut milk for some extra richness.

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Related Posts

Egg Salad-Stuffed Avocados

Well. I don't know how to begin this post. I'd normally start by describing how (insert any synonym for sugar-laden here) such and such dessert is, but this, this isn't any of those things. It's-dare I say it-healthy. Eek. 

Okay, get a grip, Caroline. You can do this. 

To start, it really is quite delicious. Paired with a piece of toast (of the whole grain variety, if you really want to run away with this nutrition thing), it makes a good lunch or big breakfast. The egg salad is a twist on the egg baked in an avocado that is super trendy right now for reason. Cooked avocado just sounds kind of icky, and a waste of a good avocado. I think this is a definite improvement: the slight tartness of the egg salad and the crunchy celery pairs very well with the mellow creaminess of the avocado.

Since it's New Years Resolution season (or is it? I feel like willpower generally begins to wane by the end of January as we are assaulted with chocolate and pink desserts for Valentine's Day)--anyhow, I switched out the traditional mayonnaise for plain Chobani yogurt. It provides a wonderful tang and flavor to the eggs, and lightens things up a lot. And I'm sure you're more than well-acquainted by now about how healthy / superfood-y etc. etc. etc. avocados are by now.

Snark aside though, this really is a nutritious, filling, and enjoyable meal. I've been asked more than once how I haven't put on tons of weight, baking and eating the desserts I do. The answer is that these are only a small portion of what I normally eat--the everyday, healthy stuff just generally end up on the blog. Today's recipe is an exception, though; it's the sort of thing I'll make for lunch when I'm home on break, quick and easy but good.

So put down the butter for a moment today, and give this a try.

-Caroline

Chobani asked me to create a recipe using their yogurt for their #MadeWithChobani project. All opinions are my own.

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Egg Salad-Stuffed Avocados

Click here for the printer-friendly recipe.
Yields: 2 servings
Egg salad recipe adapted from Girl Versus Dough

Ingredients
2 eggs
3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
½ teaspoon mustard
¼ teaspoon pepper
pinch of paprika
pinch of salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon chopped scallions
2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
1 medium ripe avocado

Directions
Place the eggs in a small pot. Fill the pot with enough water until the eggs are completely submerged. Bring the water to a roiling boil, then take the pot off the heat. Cover with a lid and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain the water and rinse with cold water.

Peel and roughly chop the eggs.
Mix together the yogurt, mustard, pepper, paprika, salt, scallions, and celery. Add the eggs and mix well. 

Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Carefully spoon the egg salad into the hollows left by the pit. Sprinkle additional paprika, if desired, and serve.

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Chocolate-Orange Marbled Muffins

Well, it's that time of year again. You know, those couple of weeks after holiday festivities but before Valentine festivities when you're supposed to atone for all that wonderful fattening food you ate in the last couple of weeks, and to make resolutions, and be virtuous? Or something like that.

I'm not good at being virtuous about food, but I'll give it a try. Sacrificing for the greater good. For you guys. With these muffins.

Actually, I just came across a picture of these little marbled muffins, and wanted to give them a try, while also just happening to come across a yogurt-based muffin recipe. But they are delicious and taste very rich and are actually not bad for you. These muffins make a great breakfast or afternoon snack, and the chocolate and orange flavor combination is really delicious.

The only tricky part of this recipe is that you have to make two different batters, and are essentially making two different kinds of muffins. It's definitely worth the effort and the extra dirty bowl, though. The chocolate-orange flavor combination makes the muffins seem really decadent and rich, and reminds me of these Lindt chocolates.

Left: dry ingredients for the orange muffin batter. Right: dry ingredients for the chocolate batter.

Wet ingredients for the orange batter.

To assemble, place a spoonful of chocolate batter in a greased muffin tin, then a spoonful of orange batter, and keep alternating until it is filled almost to the rim. Then, give each of the muffins a little swirl with a toothpick.

Then bake, let cool, enjoy, and be virtuous.

Chocolate Orange Marbled Muffins

Click here for the printable recipe
Yields: 12 Muffins | Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Ingredients
For the Chocolate Batter:
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
⅓ cup cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
¼ cup applesauce
1 egg white
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup chocolate chips

For the Orange Batter
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup applesauce
1 egg white
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
⅓ cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Directions
Grease a 12-count muffin tin. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Make the chocolate batter. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt, applesauce, egg white, sugar, honey, and vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet until just combined. Don’t over-mix! Fold in the chocolate chips.

Make the orange batter. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt, applesauce, egg white, sugar, honey, vanilla extract, and orange zest.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined. Fold in the chopped pecans.

Add a spoonful of chocolate batter to each well of the muffin tins. Add a spoonful of orange batter. Alternate until you run out of batter.

Bake at 425 degrees for 5 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 375, and bake for another 13 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Let cool and serve!