Honey Pineapple Ginger Granola

Honey Pineapple Ginger Granola

I love granola! It's perfect on yogurt, cottage cheese or with some milk. I love the combo of toasted oats, nuts and dried fruit. I don't make it enough...but that'll change because I really like this recipe for Honey Pineapple Ginger Granola! It's simple, fast, and tasty!


This granola is filled with sweet, spicy and all things in between! It has old fashioned oats, Dried Pineapple, Crystallized Ginger, Dried Cranberries, Pepita Seeds, Walnuts, and Ground Cinnamon, Ground Ginger, and Nutmeg. The secret sauce is a combo of honey and coconut oil.


This recipe is inspired by "Honey and Hazelnut Granola" that Valerie Bertinelli made on her Food Network show. She used hazelnuts and dried apricots. Also, her batch was larger (I halved the basic ingredients).

I used walnuts and pepitas seeds, along with 2 cups of old fashioned oatmeal. I never have quick-cooking oats that were called for in the original recipe, but everything turned out fine with the old fashioned oatmeal.


The nice folks at Costco sent over some products to try including Kirkland Organic Coconut Oil and Kirkland Organic Honey. I've noticed that Costco is carrying a lot more organic products, including fresh produce. I made the Carrot Ginger Soup earlier with the Coconut Oil, and I've been using it to make popcorn practically every day. I already use the Kirkland Organic Honey (comes in a three pack). When I get sick, the first thing that usually hits me is a sore throat. I always reach for my honey bear (shouldn't honey ALWAYS come in a honey bear?), lemon juice and lots of hot water. My folks use the honey as well - my dad likes honey as the sweetener in his coffee.

I chose to include dried pineapple, crystallized ginger and dried cranberries in the granola. You can have any dried fruit you want, although the crystallized ginger adds a special ginger flavor.

How do you eat your granola? I like mine on top of plain yogurt or cottage cheese!

Honey Pineapple Ginger Granola
Makes 3 cups of granola
Inspired by "Honey and Hazelnut Granola" by Valerie Bertinelli

2 cups oats (I used old fashioned oats)
1/8 cup (2 Tablespoons) walnuts, chopped
1/8 cup (2 Tablespoons) pepitas/pumpkin seeds
3 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup dried diced pineapple
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 pieces of crystallized ginger

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the oats and nuts.
4. In a small saucepan, heat the honey and coconut oil until melted. Remove from heat.
5. Add spices and salt to the honey mixture, and stir to combine.
6. Pour hot mixture over the oats and nuts and stir until everything is well coated.
7. Spread oats onto baking sheet.
8. Bake until toasted, about 25-30 minutes. Mix at half-way point.
9. Let cool then add the chopped dried fruit. Store in an airtight container and enjoy!

Disclosure: Costco sent me some products to try including Kirkland Organic Coconut Oil and Kirkland Organic Honey. I was not paid for this post. Opinions are my own.

Granola Energy Bars - Tuesdays with Dorie / Baking Chez Moi

Granola Energy Bars

It's time for Tuesdays with Dorie! I missed December's recipes (two words: Mochi Day) but I hope to get back to them. It'll be fun to make a buche de noel in summertime! This week, it's Granola Energy Bars! These are super easy to make and I'm sure your kids would love helping you. Tuesdays with Dorie group does not post the recipes as we want to support the great work of Dorie Greenspan so please purchase the book, Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere and turn to page 328 for this fun recipe!

These bars are very versatile and you can add your favorite dried fruits. I used dried blueberries, dried cranberries and dried apricots. I also skipped the coconut because it feels like dental floss (I like coconut flavored stuff but can't handle the strands).

  Luckily, I live near a Sprouts Market with the bulk bins so I was able to buy small bits of the ingredients needed: slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and dried fruits. It also carried the brown rice syrup. This is an easy substitute for melted marshmallows in a rice krispie treat; I've been wanting to try it, and Dorie gave me a perfect reason to pick up a bottle. After measuring out your ingredients, it is a simple mix together and bake. Easy peasy and enjoy! Happy New Year everyone! And to those in TWD, I made the next recipe too (what?! I know, new year's resolution to have a tad less procrastination...) and it was delicious!

See you soon, Mary the Food Librarian

P.S. If you didn't get this book for the holidays from Santa or your family, then buy it! You deserve to start the new year with awesome recipes. :)

Apple & Special K Granola Muffins

As part of the FoodBuzz Featured Publisher program, I get offers of free product to try. With a few clicks on the mouse, something edible is sent to me in the mail. I'll take it.

I received Special K Low-Fat Granola and Special K Fruit Crisps.

I decided to adapt an Everyday Food recipe and put this granola in a muffin.

The Special K Low-Fat Granola has, I feel, a long list of ingredients and lots of sweeteners which include (in order): Whole grain oats, sugar, corn syrup, oat bran, rice, honey, soluble wheat fiber, modified corn starch, soy grits, molasses, corn flour, natural flavor, salt, acacia gum, soy protein isolate, oat fiber, evaporated cane juice, malt flavoring, high fructose corn syrup...[and vitamins].

I also made a yogurt parfait with blueberries and granola. The cereal provided a nice crunch. I also had it in soy milk and it was yummy. I usually make my own granola (oats, nuts, dried fruit and a touch of maple syrup) so I'm not sure I would buy this product.

The original Everyday Food recipe calls for pears but I subbed shredded apple. I also subbed the low-fat yogurt with non-fat Greek yogurt.

For the topping, I just put straight Special K Granola on top (the recipe has a crumble mixture you can make instead).

The muffin tasted like a Muffin. Not a mini-cake. But a muffin. The granola provided a nice crunch and made the topping very easy to make. By the way, here is my Homemade Granola recipe.

Recipe:
Apple & Special K Granola Muffins
Adapted from the Pear & Granola Muffin by Everyday Food

Click here for the printable recipe

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour (I didn't have any wheat flour and used all AP flour. I would like to try it with whole-wheat)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt (I used non-fat Greek yogurt because I had it on hand)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup granola (I used the Special K Low Fat Granola)
2 cups shredded apple, with skin on (I used Fuji apples)

Topping:
3/4 cup granola
(See the Everyday Food recipe for alternative topping)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray or place paper liners in a 12-cup standard muffin tin.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, yogurt, and butter. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Add egg mixture to well, and mix in flour mixture until just combined. Gently fold in the granola and shredded apple.
4. Fill each cup 3/4 full. Sprinkle with granola. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before removing from tin. Serve warm or at room temperature.

FTC Disclosure: I received two products free from Special K. No payment was made for this post. The opinions expressed are my own.