Tropical granola. Yum.

Aloha. A good chunk of the Putney Farm crew are on the road this week, so we will be posting from the tropics. (Jeni and friends will be holding down the fort and eating all the bacon, a nice consolation.) And since we are in the tropics, we will be sticking with the theme. Expect some tiki cocktail recipes soon, after some “testing”. But for now, let’s start with breakfast.

As you may know, Carolyn makes homemade granola on a regular basis. The boys and I can’t get enough of it- the boys even sell it at school events. But as it is spring and we are in warmer climes, Carolyn developed a tropical version of the recipe, and it’s great.

Carolyn took the base granola recipe and added macadamia nuts, sesame seeds, nutmeg, ginger, dried mango and dried pineapple. What you get is a sweet and slightly spicy (from the ginger) version of granola. We also use olive oil in our granola, it adds a distinctive savory note (along with some salt) that rounds out the flavor. If you want a lighter flavor, basic vegetable oil will also work, but try it with the olive oil- you may never go back.

A final note on how to manage the texture of the granola- if you want big chunks press down firmly on the granola with a spatula before you put the baking sheet in the oven. If you like a more crumbly granola, skip this step. Continue reading →