Granola Making with Up On Top



Every Tuesday, we’ve been cooking with the kindergardeners from Up On Top, an after school  and summer program for kids from the Tenderloin area.  This week, we made granola, and then had make-your-own yogurt sundaes.  “I LOVE strawberries!” yelled a five-year-old as we went around the cafeteria stating names and favorite foods. “Is granola how you make a granola bar? ‘Cause those are my favorite,” another little guy professed.  We were off to a good start, and here’s how we made the crunchy cereal before it grew up into bars:

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup flax seeds or sesame seeds
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
optional: dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, chopped apricots, etc.)

Turn the oven on to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, almonds and seeds. In a smaller separate bowl, whisk together the oil, honey, maple syrup and salt. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry, and mix together thoroughly until all the oats seem coated. Spread the mixture out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake for about 20 minutes, or until oats start to turn golden (they will crisp up as they cool, so don’t worry if they still seem soft.) You may need to turn the pan half way through if your oven heats unevenly. You can also use an electric toaster oven, just split the mixture and bake in two batches. Mix in dried fruit if using, and let cool fully.

IMG_5650For the yogurt sundae…
We like plain yogurt, strawberries, bananas and mango, but you can use whatever sounds good! You can even blend up your strawberries so that they’re like a sauce.  If you have a clear cup, you can build layers of yogurt, granola, fruit and repeat, so it ends up like colorful stripes when you look at it from the side.