This year, I decided to give some homemade, edible holiday gifts instead of store bought items. After brunch this morning, I spent the remainder of the afternoon in the kitchen making some scrumptious treats. I made homemade granola and homemade peppermint & wintergreen white vanilla chocolate bark. Both were extremely easy to make and both turned out absolutely delicious. I am going to put both items into cute tins tomorrow and some of my holiday gifts are done!
Granola: perfect for breakfast with milk or fruit, on top of yogurt, with ice cream, or even on its own
Granola in the oven
- Ingredients for 6 servings
- 3 cups of Quaker oats
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 1 cup cashews
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup + 2-3 tablespoons of maple syrup
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
- 3/4 teaspoon of salt
- handful of raisins
- handful of dried cranberries
- tablespoon of cinnamon
- Directions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, both types of nuts, and brown sugar
- In a separate bowl, combine the maple syrup, oil, and salt
- Combine both mixtures
- Pour onto a large baking sheet (spray with non stick cooking spray prior)
- Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes
- When just 20 minutes left, take out and pour cinnamon on and stir
- Remove from oven and transfer into bowl
- Add raisins and dried cranberries
- Combine together
- ENJOY
The finished product
Peppermint & Wintergreen White Vanilla Chocolate Bark: perfect whenever and wherever
- Ingredients for about 2 pounds of bark
- Crushed peppermint and wintergreen candies, to yield 1 cup
- Approximately 8 cups of white vanilla chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons of water
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
Crushed up candies (and they can be crushed even smaller)
- Directions
- Place unwrapped peppermint and wintergreen candies in a plastic bag and hammer into small chunks
- Melt the chocolate in a microwavable safe bowl with the water and oil
- Stir so all chips are melted together
- Combine the crushed candies with the chocolate
- Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet layered with parchment paper
- Place in the refrigerator for approximately 45 minutes or until firm
- Remove from cookie sheet and break into pieces
- ENJOY
The finished product