Do you like granola? I like granola. But I hate paying £4 for a box with 3 pieces of walnut and one cranberry. If you’re with me, join me by making your own! And might I suggest you give my granola recipe a try…

It’s really easy to scale your granola making up or down. You can also create your very own granola blend. Once you have the proportions down, anything is possible. Mine is lightly sweetened, but you can amp it up to your taste. More sweetener will also give you bigger clusters. For a vegan version, sub in maple syrup – but use less, as maple syrup tends to taste sweeter.

You can use different kinds of nuts, too. I’ve made it with hazelnuts and pecans, Brazil nuts and walnuts, and have even gone as far as a three-nut combo. Crazy, I know.

Add in your own flavorings – a sprinkle of cinnamon or a few drops of vanilla go a long way. Get creative with your crunchy granola self!

Once you have a vat of toasted granola, you might wonder what to do with it besides shoving it straight into your mouth.

Sprinkle that sweet, nutty, homemade granola on top of plain (full fat obviously) Greek yogurt with jam. Sometimes I go off the deep end into DIY territory, but hear me out. You can turn that yogurt into any flavor you want it to be. Strawberry, apricot, blackberry bourbon… just try telling me dyed-pink yogurt sounds better.

Pour some milk on it, cow or otherwise. Sprinkle it onto ice cream. Put it on a fruit crumble. Tweak your cranachan. (If you have any other suggestions, I’d be happy to try them.)

Feel like everything is out of your control? Start small with granola. Then take that slow-release energy out there and tackle the world.

Crunchy nutty granola

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On the Counter

• 200 g oats
• 75 g nuts
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1.5 tbsp coconut oil
• 75 g dried fruit

What to Do

• Optional first step: Sieve the oat dust from your oats.
• Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3/325F.
• Combine the coconut oil and honey. On very low heat, melt them until the mix is thin and runny. This is especially handy if it's cool in your kitchen or your honey is crystallized. Stir to combine.
• Chop the nuts into pieces about the same size (or slightly larger than) an oat.
• In a large bowl, combine the oats and nuts.
• Drizzle the oil and honey on top, stirring the oat mix as you go. Stir until evenly coated. Dig deep!
• Spread the mix evenly onto two baking sheets.
• Bake for 10 minutes.
• Gently mix in the dried fruit and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Don't let it go further than lightly golden brown.
• Cool before storing.
• Mix your granola into yogurt, on top of ice cream, or enjoy it as a cereal with milk.

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https://www.onmykitchencounter.com/2017/02/12/crunchy-nutty-granola-recipe/

I’m going to be straight with you, dear readers. Carrot cake is not my favorite type of cake. And honestly, most times it’s not a cake I would choose. Usually I think the frosting is too sweet and the cake is too spicy and not to mention the raisins… I like carrot cake, but I knew there was a lot more potential in there than most of them could offer.

So I made my own. And while I was at it, I thought I would play around with natural, non-sugar sweeteners. Because carrot cake is pretty moist (or should be), I knew that I wouldn’t be ruining everything by trying liquid sweeteners like honey and agave syrup.

I’m not cutting sugar entirely, though I am experimenting more with replacing it with other sweeteners. I’m not into the whole sugar replacers… no matter what the marketing says, I feel like I can still pick out the taste of sweetener, so I avoid it.

Note: Honey has a higher glycemic index agave syrup, if that’s something you need to worry about. Funnily enough, though, agave syrup tastes sweeter than honey. I tried both at the same proportions, and thought they both made for good, not overly sweet cakes. In other recipes where the amount of liquid/dry ingredients is more essential, it’s worth knowing that agave syrup is less viscous than honey, so you might need to cut the proportion of other liquids.

On the Counter

Cake:
150g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
100g honey OR 100g agave nectar
3 free-range eggs
200g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp grated nutmeg
200g carrots, peeled
100g (1 cup) walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

Set aside 30 grams (1/3 cup) of walnuts for decorating

9 x 2 1/2 inch or 23 x 6 cm springform pan

Frosting:
230 mL/1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp real maple syrup
30 g walnuts set aside from cake

What to Do

Baking:

Grate the carrots, preferably so the shreds are very small. (This is easier to do with fresher carrots, but carrot cake is a good use for slightly sad carrots… up to you.)

Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F. Grease the inside of your springform pan with butter.

Whisk the melted butter, egg and honey or agave together until they are well combined and are very slightly bubbly.

Sift in all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt).

Carefully fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a rubber spatula. If you do this carefully, you’re less likely to get flour lumps. Stir in the carrot and walnuts.

Once you have a solid colored batter and the carrot is evenly distributed, gently pour the batter into the springform pan. It should pour evenly into the pan, but if it’s not even, gently spread it out with the rubber spatula.

Bake for 30 minutes. You can test if it’s done by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, it’s ready.

Frosting:

Let the finished rest until it’s completely cooled. (Not even a little bit warm!) Remove it from the pan and then gently slice off any of the top of the cake that stops it from being flat. Eat your spoils.

Vigorously stir the maple syrup into the sour cream until well combined and the cream is smooth. Gently spoon or spread it on top of the cake, using the back of the spoon (or frosting spreader) to make sure it goes on evenly.

Sprinkle on the rest of the toasted walnuts. Serve!

The cake and frosting keep well in the fridge for at least 3 days.  

This year, for St. Patrick’s Day, I ate tacos with fish from the English coast, drank an English beer with those tacos… and made Guinness bread. (Hey, I tried!)

Here in London, St. Patrick’s Day isn’t the kind of holiday it is in the US. People go out here, but it doesn’t have the same kind of exciting buzz or the green rivers. I’m guessing it might be because of the formerly sour relations between the two countries…

So while this post doesn’t include any unnaturally green food or silly hats, it does have a delicious and somewhat sweet bread to snack on while getting over a big night out. My favorite way to have it is warm with a bit of butter on top.

The best part about making this bread is that it didn’t require any yeast or rising. A bit of baking powder and some fizzy(ish) beer does all the work!

Notes: I cut 1/2 the sugar from the original recipe, but it’s still a sweet bread. If you want something more savory, you could cut it even more.

Also, while I would love to write that this bread is vegetarian, it’s unfortunately not. If you’re strict, it’s worth knowing that Guinness is processed with something called isinglass, which is made from fish.

Original recipe from: The Black Peppercorn

On The Counter

3 cups flour, sifted
1/2 tsp (2.5mL) salt
4 tsp (20mL) baking powder
1/3 cup (30g) oats
1/3 cup (85g) demerara (raw) sugar
12 oz (340mL) Guinness
1 tbsp (6g) oats
non-dairy spread or butter to grease loaf pan

What to Do

Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Grease a 9.5in x 5in x 3in (24cm x 13cm x 7cm) with the butter/spread.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, 1/3 cup oats and sugar.

Slowly mix in Guinness using a wooden spoon. Try to avoid lumps, but don’t overmix. The batter should be quite sticky.

Scoop the batter into the greased pan and sprinkle the remaining oats on top.

Bake for 45-50 minutes. Test with a toothpick at 45 minutes. If it comes out clean, remove from the oven. If it doesn’t, put it back in for 5 more minutes at a time.

Place on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes. Slice while still warm.