The Fresh Loaf

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Peanut butter granola and Cherry pecan au levain today's bake

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

Peanut butter granola and Cherry pecan au levain today's bake

I have had this recipe for granola since the 80's. My Mom found it in the Orlando Sentinel. It is the best I have ever tasted. Here is the pic and the recipe.

Photobucket 12c rolled oates

 2 c sunflower seeds

2 c ribbon coconut

 2 c chopped nuts - I use almonds and/or pecans

2 c sesame seeds

combine in a pan: 2 c smooth peanut butter 2 c honey 1 c water 3 tsp salt 2 Tbsp cinnamon heat till well mixed toss above mix w/ this dressing. Bake at 300 till brown as you like it. We like it quite crunchy. Watch closely after first 30 min. Takes about 1 1/2 hrs.

 This is the Cherry Pecan au levain from TFL. It was a very easy formula to follow. I made a couple small changes. I put the completed dough into a large bowl and did 15 minutes of folding in the bowl w/ a large rubber spatula. I did the pecans first for 5 min to incorporate them and then put the soaked cherries in the bowl. This worked very well and there was no mess at all. Also my cherries are very moist so I only soaked them about 1 hr and drained well. They held up perfectly due to not being so fragile. The dough was retarded for 24 hrs due to time constraints. This did not affect it at all. It had gotten a nice rise in the fridge and I then placed it on a sunny table while the oven preheated. Great rise and nice crust. I no longer use a steam pan for any breads. I just mist heavily right before I put loaves in the oven and then mist one time a minute later in the oven. Seems to work very well and a lot less trouble and safer too ! These were baked on parchment and placed on a cookie sheet, no stone used today.

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

Comments

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

Lovely granola and loaves...It all looks so very, very tasty...Your loaves are beautiful and I like the look of the crust...I like the look of your cherries in the loaf too... the short fruit soaks work best for me too..I even shorten the time more by adding very warm water for my raisins and cherries.

Sylvia 

 

audra36274's picture
audra36274

My kids are granola connaisseurs and yours looks wonderful. The crunchier the better.

                                                                          Audra

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

Do you mean you use warm water to soak them or very warm water to stir up the dough and skip the soak altogether ? I just barely cover them with boiling water and leave it an hour and then drain. I always drink the juice it is so yum ! c

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

I bring the water just to a start boil, pour it to cover the fruit and let it sit from 5 to 15 min...depending on how moist the fruit was to begin with...I have thought about using this water in the dough...but have not done it...yet!  Drinking it sounds good!

Sylvia

mountaindog's picture
mountaindog

Beautiful cherry pecan loaves, Caroline! They look perfect...next time I make these, I may not bother chopping the pecans either, as they seem to slice up nicely in the bread anyhow. This bread has become a family favorite here and is requested often by my brother's family who I keep supplied with bread.

I never made granola before, it looks quite easy from your recipe. We're all out of museli for our yogurt this week but I have rolled oats so maybe I'll just make some of your granola to go in the yogurt after I'm done with my bake this weekend.

 

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

Sylvia I had thought to use the water also but I am always done with the formula when I have finished soaking the cherries since I don't do them ahead of time. It does taste good though :)

sara hope you enjoy. It is the most flavorful granola I have ever had. Also I find the stuff in stores is not not ever toasted enough. I like my brown! Also I leave bigger chunks when I stir it . Can you tell I am a granola hedonist ??!

MD, the bread is so good. I am glad I tried it. I bet your family is so happy that you keep them supplied. I did lightly chop the pecans but not too much. Also I toast them in the microwave, never the oven, that way they won't burn when I forget them  LOL. Three minutes in my MW does it.

You will love the granola. You can easily reduce the recipe. Watch it carefully after the first 30 minutes. Caroline