Sika Lodge's Homemade Granola

I made some homemade granola last month for the cyclists staying with us for the big Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle. I thought it was a healthy, energizing way for the brave cyclists to prepare for their 112 miles ahead of them. I didn't foresee how popular the granola would be with my guests and now I'm making it so often and jotting down the ingredients for my guests, I decided to put it out there on the blog.

The recipe became all about the '1 cup' formula. I found all the weights and scales to be a bit too much so I used '1 cup' measures when adding the ingredients. The recipe also came about due to the contents of my cupboards at first conception. Now I make it this way every time. But you can add and subtract ingredients as you please!

Ingredients 

(The not so healthy part)

• 1 cup Honey
• 1 cup oil (sunflower)

(The healthy part)

• 5 cups of jumbo oat flakes
• 6 weetabix biscuits
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 1 cup milled linseed (I use one from Lidl with milled dried blueberries)
• 1 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1 cup toasted sunflower seeds
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or toasted almond flakes
• 1 cup of dried banana slices, broken into small pieces.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees
2. Put the oil and honey in the microwave for 40 seconds and stir.
3. Crush the weetabix and combine with the oats in a large bowl. Mix well.
4. Pour over the oil/honey mixture and stir well to coat every thing evenly.
5. Spread the mixture over baking trays thinly (2 tray usually do)
6. Bake in the oven, toss the mixture every 5 minutes so the edges do not burn.
7. The flakes should be toasted after 20 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
8. Add the remaining ingredients into a very large bowl and once the toasted flakes are cooled, add them also and stir very well.
9. Transfer to air tight containers and use within 2 weeks. (Though it won't last that long, trust me.)
10. Serve with your favorite yogurt for a satisfying breakfast that will definitely keep you full until lunchtime.

New York Style Blueberry Muffins

To celebrate the 4th July in the Bed & Breakfast this morning, I've baked blueberry muffins as I remember them in New York. My breakfast every morning when on holidays in NYC would be a large coffee and a blueberry muffin from the coffee shop around the corner from where I was staying. It was the perfect fuel I needed for a day of shopping & sightseeing.

I remember the muffins in NYC were supersized , not like the muffins I was used to, I remember them to be fluffy and having a hint of a lemony taste, which went so well with the bittersweet blueberries.

This recipe is a homage to those crazy tasty muffins in Manhattan!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Ingredients

·         400g Plain flour

·         150g Caster sugar

·         80g Butter

·         2 eggs

·         1 tbsp Baking powder

·         Zest of 2 lemons

·         260ml Buttermilk

·         Juice of 1 lemon

·         1 tsp of salt

·         200g of fresh blueberrries

Method

1.       Sieve the flour into a bowl, along with the baking powder, salt and sugar.

2.       Melt the butter over a low heat.

3.       Zest the lemons over the flour mixture

4.       Lift the flour mixture high from the bowl and let it fall between your fingers, do this maybe 10 times. This helps to lighten the flour.

5.       Beat the eggs in a jug with the buttermilk and add the melted butter once its cooled slightly and the orange juice.

6.       Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

7.       Add the apple and blueberries and gently fold.

8.       Have the oven preheated to 200 degrees.

9.       Line a muffin tray with paper cases and using a dessert spoon fill each case.

10.   Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

11.   Remove and cool on wire rack.

If you like these muffins, I took the recipe from a previous blog post Apple & Blueberry Muffins, click on the link below to check it out.



http://serenasmediumrare.blogspot.ie/2013/03/apple-blueberry-muffins.html