Homemade Granola

I'm eating this granola as we speak, and every mouthful I am glorified at how deliciously easy this is to make myself.
This takes very little effort and time, plus makes for a great gift!

3-4 cups thick oats
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1 1/2 cup chopped almonds
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup canola oil (although next time I want to try coconut oil)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup chopped banana chips
1 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup coconut flakes


Directions:

• Oven: 325F 
• Combine oats, flax seeds, hemp seeds, almonds, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl
• Combine oil, honey, syrup and almond extract in a small bowl
• Pour honey and syrup mixture over the oat mixture. Stir well to combine and have all oats covered
• Lay the oat mixture flat out onto a lined baking sheet. Spread and press it out to make an even layer.
• Baked for 35-40 minutes, or until golden, rotating the pan once halfway through baking.
• Once baked, remove from the oven and let rest and cool for up to 1 hour
• And now the fun part! :) - using your hands, break the granola into pieces (size of your choice)
• Place the granola into a bowl and toss in the cranberries banana chips and coconut flakes

This makes about 8 cups of granola. Stored in an airtight container it should last up to 2 weeks.

As I mentioned, this makes for a great gift but don't seek yourself short; make sure to keep some for yourself also! Your taste buds will thank me!

Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti

'Tis the season and all is festive in the kitchen!
It took me some time to get in the festive spirit this year, which is odd since I absolutely love the Holidays! The colours, the smells, the music and the all around sparkling spirit in the air.

I finally climbed onto the Christmas band wagon and got my ar*e in the kitchen. My place of comfort.
I'm taking on this season now, like a bulldozer!

These are ideal Christmas biscotti… the red berries, the green nuts and the white chocolate... hellooo… perfect much?
These look so great wrapped up and given as Christmas goody gifts.
So here we go, my first baked good of the season… Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti - dipped in white chocolate. Heavenly!


Recipe from Canadian Living:

1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup pistachios (chopped if you want, but not necessary)
1 cup dried cranberries
1 egg white
10 oz (280g) white chocolate, melted

Instructions:
(I used a kitchen aid stand mixer for this but you don't require one)
- Set oven to 325 F
- In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla
- In another bowl blend flour, salt and baking powder
- Add the half the flour mixture to the butter mixture, stirring until nearly combined, then add the remaining flour mixture and stir all together until completely combined
- Now add pistachios and cranberries and mix into the dough well
- Divide dough into two. On a lightly floured surface shape each into a 12 inch long rectangle
- Place on a lined baking sheet, approximately 5cm apart
- Combine egg white with 1 tsp water, and brush over top of biscotti rectangles
- Bake for about 30min, until lightly golden and just firm to the touch. Then allow to cool on a rack for about 10 minutes
- Turn oven down to 300 F
- Move the rectangle biscotti to a cutting board and using a chef's knife cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick slices
- Stand each stick upright (so that a cut edge faces upwards) back on the baking sheet
- Bake in 300 F oven for another 30-35 minutes, or until nicely golden and almost dry
- Transfer biscotti sticks to a wire rack to cool completely
- Dip the end of each biscotti into the melted white chocolate and place on waxed or parchment paper lined baking sheet; refrigerate until chocolate is set. This should take only 20 minutes or so
- Wrap up as desired!

Homemade Lip Balm

I know this isn't a food post, but there is some cooking and creativity involved so why not!? ;)

I sometimes like to make a little extra effort and actually make gifts rather than buy, especially (for some reason) for the Christmas season. Last year I made Red Pepper Jelly (delish'!) - which I just posted late so don't let the post date fool you. The year prior to that I made Orange and Cranberry Mini Loaves….. I really must make these again, Yum!
This year I will be doing some baking but haven't got around to it yet, however in the mean time I have decided to make…. wait for it….. Homemade Peppermint Lip balm!

I can't get over how easy this is. The only thing to be careful of is to make sure you don't wait too long before pouring the mixture into the containers. This stuff sets quite quickly. Oh, and be very mindful that the tins you're filling are probably very shallow, they fill fast! Don't let them overflow like I did; quite a mission to clean up! haha!

So here we go…

I found this recipe through a Pinterest trail (www.soulmama.com). All you need;

8 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp beeswax
1.5 tbsp raw honey
30 drops of peppermint essential oil
1/2 stick natural lipstick, colour of your choice (optional - didn't use any colour this time)

Place coconut oil, beeswax and honey in a  heatproof bowl or large mason jar resting over a pan of simmering water (this is called a bain marie). Or if you have a double boiler that is perfect!
Heat slowly until everything has melted.
Then remove  mixture from the heat and add the peppermint (and the lipstick if using). Stir to blend.

Now very carefully pour the mixture into the individual tins.
This should make approximately 8-12 tins, depending on the size of your tins.

You can use old mint tins if you'd like to re-use/recycle. I didn't have any though so I bought a few from a local soap making shop (where I also bought beeswax pebbles that the lady said was for cosmetic use). You could also try craft stores for the tins though.

One of my favourite parts is the wrapping… especially when finding an 'out of the ordinary' use for something. These little cloth sacs are reusable tea bags and fit the lip balm tins perfectly! How adorable :)

Happy Gifting!