Apple Spice Granola

Contains “just a little kick!”
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If by chance you follow me on Facebook or Instagram or have read the blog for a while (Thanks much!), you might know I make granola about once a month. A granola post proclaims, “IT’S GRANOLA DAY AT ALYCE’S HOUSE!” Other than purchasing commercially made cereal for some odd-indeed recipe or a donation, I probably haven’t bought cereal in close to 15 years. I eat an egg and veggie wrap or omelet or a bowl of oatmeal with an egg cooked in it every day for breakfast. My best sous and husband Dave is the one who must have his granola for the daily yogurt and fruit. Hence the many pans of granola and the many granola recipes on the blog.

#justaddmilk or yogurt

This apple version is very much like THANKSGIVING GRANOLA (take it to your sister’s when you go for the holiday) but, after a bit of reflection, I’ve cut the “sugar”–which is local, if possible, honey and real maple syrup — in half and increased the spices just enough to make them pop. The recipe, originally adapted from the fabulous David Lebovitz, who I think borrowed it from the uber-cool Nigella Lawson (!), contains only 2 tablespoons of healthy olive oil. It’s the perfect baked gift for those who don’t bake and the perfect breakfast for those who don’t cook. Just think of only putting out yogurt, fresh fruit, and your very own granola for breakfast the next time company stays over. Ok, maybe add some great bread, peanut butter, and Bonne Maman jam next to the toaster, coffee pot, and mugs. VoilĂ !

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Cashew-Pecan Spice Bars

Need an egg-free cookie? Here it is!
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In a galaxy far away, I was once the gift shop manager of the lovely historic property, Woodlawn Plantation/Pope Leighey House in Mt. Vernon, Virginia. Right up Rte 1 from my own home in Woodbridge, this was not only a most convenient work spot but a beautiful early-American house museum and a loving, learning place to work. How I adored my coworkers! Each winter, I traveled to attend a gift show to buy new merchandise for the shop and one eventful year, I was smitten (gobsmacked, really) by a company that baked and delivered the most delicious brownies and bar cookies I’d ever tasted at a commercial level. We began to carry them quite soon afterward in the shop and the Pecan Squares — dripping with honey and toasted Georgia nuts on a buttery shortbread base–were the standout choice of the short, but sweet menu. It sadly soon became evident we couldn’t sell enough of them to make a profit (there was quota to buy each month and they often went bad on us) and I sorrowfully canceled our standing order. But! I never ever forgot the taste of those pecan squares and was thus thrilled to later see a recipe for a similar cookie in the famed–and personal favorite– SILVER PALATE COOKBOOK (SP). I baked them myself (were they as good???) and sent them to my husband as he traveled with the Air Force band and while he went to officer’s training school. Fast forward nearly 40 years and I was about to summon the memories of those cookies to create my own 2023 holiday treat, Cashew-Pecan Spiced Bars (Chai Squares? Nutty Spice Bars? Spicy Chai Nut Bars? What’s in a name?!), for this very blog. A new Christmas cookie is something I’ve done for a number of Decembers now and I was a little late to the gate getting started this year despite best intentions. Let’s not talk about the construction zone that is our house right now or even about the big-mess Christmas kitchen.

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KIDS BAKE MOTHER’S DAY: Apple-Pecan Coffeecake

What is it about making brunch at home that feels extravagant and comfy all at the same time? We’re all over planning changeable, healthy dinner meals complete with menus, shopping lists, and Sunday prep, but morning fare is relegated to nearly the same dish over and over again. Folks literally eat oatmeal for breakfast every single day. Or peanut butter toast. Yogurt and granola. Whatever. But take us to a swank brunch buffet at a fancy hotel and we’re putting soft poached eggs on smoked salmon dill biscuits and snarfing down raspberries in Grand Marnier with dark chocolate waffles as if there were no tomorrow. And then there’s the bottomless mimosa, isn’t there? When we finally decide to put on an at-home morning spread–for Mother’s Day, say?– that takes more thoughtful preparation than slamming down bread in the toaster and manage some actual day-before cooking or baking, it’s amazing how pampered-rich, how homey and cosseted we feel. Kinda like, “Well, isn’t this nice?!” And it is.

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