Peanut Butter And Chocolate Chip Granola (Video Recipe)

Let me guess! With zillions of granola recipes out there, you can't really believe that I come back with another granola recipe with chocolate! If you could see me I look suitably sheepish agreeing that the other two here are Chocolate And Coconut Granola and Double Chocolate Granola. Please don't look at me like that, this one has peanut butter too! With raving fans of the spread around, I thought  David Lebovitz's  Peanut Butter And Chocolate Granola.will be a good one to have in the jar.

Though you will never catch me devouring spoonfuls of peanut butter, I am not really averse to the taste of it, especially with chocolate. The other three in my family can be annoyingly interested in that jar on the kitchen shelf. Kids slather it on toast and chapatis apart from digging into it with a spoon now and then. That's when I grow horns and refuse to replace the empty jar - till I want to :D

Like when I want to make peanut Butter Granola. I sneak out and buy some peanut butter and pretend it was there all along, somehow went unnoticed. I like having some granola around to feed the incorrigibly sweet -toothed me. Not to forget my forever hungry pre-teen who keeps combing through the kitchen for a 'small sweet something'.

Sweetish, slightly salty, with chocolate and peanuts in each spoonful, it's a peanut butter lover's healthy treat!

This makes a small batch of granola of about 1 1/4 cups you could bake in the 12'' round tin of your microwave. Can be easily doubled or tripled to make more.if using a much larger tray.

Ingredients: To make about 1 1/4 cup of granola

Oats - 75 grams - 3/4 cup, I use Quaker (please read note) 

Peanuts, salted or unsalted - 50 grams. Toasted and coarsely chopped

Bittersweet or dark chocolate chips - 3 tablespoons

Salt - less than 1/8 teaspoon (or to taste)

Smooth peanut butter - 2 tablespoons

Honey or maple syrup - 2 tablespoons

Brown sugar - 1 tablespoon

Water - 1/2 tablespoon

Vanilla - 1/4 teaspoon (or cinnamon)

     Method : Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees C / 325 F.  Line your baking tray with parchment. I have used 11 '' round tin.

• In a large bowl, mix together the oats, chocolate chips and the peanuts.

• Take the peanut butter, honey, sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat, stirring constantly, to warm the mixture. Do not let it get too hot or start boiling. 

• Scrape the peanut butter mixture on the oats mixture. Mix well with a spatula. You will have a slightly wet but crumbly mixture.

• Transfer to the baking sheet, spread evenly in a thin single layer.

• Bake for about 15 minutes. Stir to redistribute  (don't forget to stir from the edges cautions David). Bake again for 5-8 minutes. The baking time varies depending on your oven and the thickness of the granola spread in the pan. Be careful. If in doubt, bake less. You can always bake more if needed.

• If the chocolate chips melt, your granola will be kind of muddy looking like mine, so hard to judge by the color.

• It will still feel soft but will turn crunchy as it cools. If you want it crunchier, bake 2-3 minutes more. Be careful not to over-bake as it will start smelling burnt. Don't know about you, but I would prefer my granola a little less crunchy to slightly burnt.

Once completely cool, store airtight. Keeps for a month or more - only if you make a considerably mega batch!

Please note:

Oats : I sieve the oats in a colander to get only the largish flakes and use them for the granola. Reserve the powdery part for another use.

Peanuts : I have used ready shelled, roasted and salted peanuts. You may want to omit or reduce salt according to the kind of nuts you use.

Chocolate chips : I have used the kind used for baking. But it started to melt when mixed with the warm peanut butter. Not that I have any complaints with the taste, but if you want the chips intact, you could try waiting for the PB mixture to cool a bit before adding it to the oats mixture.

Soulfull's Adai, Raagi Dosa Mix And Raagi Flakes - A Product Review

 “One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast.” - Robert A Heinlein

Nothing can really make me skip a meal, specially breakfast, my post-walk ravenous tummy doubly ensures that! The South Indian breakfast staple dosa appears at least twice a week on the table. I, umm..OK..let me blurt it out again, I mostly buy my dosa batter...now please don't look at me like that!!  I have a very strange problem with my batter fermenting properly and I am too lazy to make my own batter in my mixer. I have not had great experiences with instant dosa mixes earlier, so when Soulfull sent me their dosa mixes and raagi flakes for a product review, I was looking forward to see how these would turn out. They currently have launched Instant rawa dosa mix, adai mix and raagi dosa which they claim is low fat and sodium as well.

Here is what Soulfull says

 Adai is traditionally made with a mix of lentils, rice, spices and red chillies which gives the dosa its characteristic reddish color. The lentils are soaked, ground with the spices. If you enjoy your dosas spicy, this protein rich dosa makes a great change from the regular ones. The mix took a little more water than the proportions mentioned on the pack, but it was quite tasty with a very predominant flavor of hing. The batter was easier to spread and made thinner crispier dosas hours after it was mixed. The kids enjoyed their evening snack with spoonfuls of onion-coconut chutney. Hubby doesn't relish adai, but for the kids and me,  Soulfull's gluten free ready mix of adai surely makes it to my grocery list!

 

Though considered to be good for infants and diabetics due to its rich fiber and nutrition content Raagi /finger millet / nachini, is a relatively less used grain. My daughter who at first frowned at the dark colored dosa, took a reluctant bite and then happily ate it with her chutney. A winner here! The peppery rawa dosa mix though was not a hit with us, so I may not buy it again.

The raagi flakes come in six flavors, chocolate, cocoa-lite, banana, strawberry and Tiramisu (interesting!). They little perfectly shaped flakes are crisp and claim to be 97% raagi. The flakes are just about sweet, which is a refreshing change from sweet cereals, perfect for the health conscious and diabetic people. The original flakes are not sweet, so will go well for savory snack ideas as well. Cocoa lite and banana have very mild cocoa and banana flavors. I like eating these flakes as a snack with fresh fruit and chilled milk..but my kids (being kids) did not take a liking to it...a more chocolaty version for them perhaps?

Summing up, even for the dosa made from scratch lovers, the dosa mixes are surely good and handy for those busy mornings or lazy brunch on a weekend. The flakes may appeal in some flavors to the adult palate rather than that of kids. Whole wheat flakes in good flavors perhaps? Yes, I think that would be great!

 Soulfull products are currently available at Brown Tree, Spar outlets, Food Hall and Natures Basket outlets in Bangalore. The products will shortly be available at  Total Mall, Food World & Nilgiris. Soulfull plans to also launch health mixes, muesli  and energy bars. Thanks Soulfull and look forward to more healthy and promising products from you!