Transcendental Granola

For those unfamiliar with the Youtube channel You Suck At Cooking, it is mostly silly and humorous but also provides actual recipes you can replicate. The granola made in Episode 43 looked so good I needed to try it myself. This particular episode pokes fun at new age culture and it's wonderfully spot on. Watch the video for a more entertaining walkthrough of how to make the granola.

I have made granola in the past but I'm pretty sure the prospect of dried blueberries and knowing where I could get some gave me the motivation to try it.

I personally don't bother with the pyramid thing but if you want to, go ahead ;)

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RECIPE:

Transcendental Granola
from You Suck at Cooking, episode 43 (July 12, 2016)
Makes about 6 cups

3 cups rolled oats
2 cups nuts, roughly chopped (any kind you like; I used almonds and cashews)
½ cup coconut oil
½ cup pure maple syrup or honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup dried blueberries or other dried fruit of your choice (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place oats and nuts in a medium mixing bowl and set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, heat coconut oil in 20-second increments until melted. Remove from microwave and stir in maple syrup or honey, vanilla, and salt. Pour coconut oil mixture over the oats and nuts and stir until evenly coated. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and stir. Return to oven and bake for 15 more minutes, checking every 5 minutes or so to make sure it doesn't get too brown (take it out before the second 15 minutes is up if it starts to get darker than golden brown). Let it cool to room temperature. It will get crispy as it cools.

Once cooled completely, stir in the dried fruit if desired. Store in a glass jar at room temperature. It will keep for several weeks.

Holiday Bakeathon 2016

Holiday baking day #3 and hitting our stride, though we were still at it for nearly 12 hours. We made a lot of truffles this go around and the white chocolate horchata ones I tried to design were an abject failure. White chocolate is so finicky! Someday I will figure it out. Again, we had a mix of old favorites and new ideas to try.

RECIPES

• Spicy Gingerbread Cookies (Smitten Kitchen)
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Chocolate Caramel Crunch Almonds (Smitten Kitchen) -- these didn't turn out quite right (sandy textured instead of glassy coating, the sugar did not end up melting again despite instruction that it would) but they were still tasty.
• Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti (Joy of Baking) -- colorful and tasty! We dipped the ends of some in melted white chocolate, the sweetness of which pairs really nicely with the sour cranberry.
• Cinnamon-Sugar Rugelach -- a repeat from last year because we love them.
• Decadent Hot Chocolate Mix (Smitten Kitchen) -- a repeat from years past because it's really good.
• Toasted Coconut Marshmallows (Ina Garten) -- Sarah has made these before and they were just as tasty this time. I kept accidentally burning the coconut because I would get distracted with other baking tasks and forget! I finally got it on the third try, haha. I might crumble the toasted coconut into smaller pieces next time because it didn't stick very well to the marshmallows as large shreds.
• Peanut Butter Balls / Buckeyes (Irvin Lin via Simply Recipes) -- This was my first time ever making them. I had always wanted to try making them ever since seeing my grandma's recipe for them in my mom's collection as a child, but her recipe called for paraffin wax (yikes!) so we did not use it. I think these ended up a little soft, but we used coconut oil instead of dairy butter so they would be vegan, and that might have messed with the texture. I'd absolutely try again though. Make them smaller than you think you would like them, because they're quite rich.
• Dark Chocolate Coconut Truffles (Melanie Stephens, via Feed Your Awesome Machine) -- a repeat from 2014, still love them. Next time I want to roll them in toasted coconut.
• Irish Cream and Coffee Truffles (The Crumby Cupcake) -- delicious. I'd definitely consider making them again. I decided I don't like them coated in bright blue sprinkles though.

BAKEATHONS PAST

• 2015
• 2014

Cinnamon-Sugar Rugelach

There are lots of rugelach recipes out there and I am sure many are good, but this is my personal favorite. A former coworker at a job I had for many years always made these for our year-end work party, and once I told her how much my husband and I liked them she would save extra ones just for us, which was really sweet. We made these once for a holiday baking day at my insistence and Caroline realized these are the same kind of holiday cookies she remembered her grandmother would make, but she never knew the name of and never got a recipe for before she passed away. It feels good to have reintroduced them into her life.

Notes:

• Use the highest quality cinnamon you have since it really shines here. I am partial to Penzey's Vietnamese Cinnamon.
• I have great luck using a plastic pull-apart pizza cutter to cut the rolled out dough.
• I can usually fit 24 of these on a single sheet pan.
• The last step of brushing more melted butter on the finished cookies is 100% unnecessary, but very delicious.
• The cinnamon sugar kind are my favorite, but I have also tried filling these with a number of other things. Omit the cinnamon sugar and walnuts, and try a fruit flavored jam or chocolate-hazelnut spread (such as Nutella) instead for a variation. Warm it slightly in the microwave so that it spreads over the dough more easily. For a more intense fruit flavor, you could use dried fruit.

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RECIPE:

Cinnamon-Sugar Rugelach
from my coworker Anne; makes 48 (4 dozen)

Pastry:
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Beat cream cheese and butter until well blended. Stir in flour and salt. Divide into 4 equal size discs. Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to roll (~1-2 hours minimum).

Filling:
Cinnamon sugar: 2/3 cup sugar + 2 tsp cinnamon (you will have extra)
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) butter, melted
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out each pastry patty to 10" diameter. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle the dough with 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar and 1 tablespoon walnuts. Using a pizza cutter, divide each circle into 12 wedges and roll up from wide end to narrow end; shape into crescent and pinch ends closed. Bake for 25 minutes, or until turning golden brown. When cool enough to handle, brush with remaining melted butter and roll in leftover cinnamon sugar.