My Version Of Granola

I thought I'd make granola today. 

Sometime ago I ran out of these two jumbo packs of dried cranberry and granola that my thoughtful sister from Florida gave me last December.   She knows that I top my oatmeal for breakfast with dried fruits and  crunchy cereal to allay boredom.  

Since then, I've been buying granola and muesli, though they are quite expensive here, most of them, if not all are imported.  Therefore it is more practical to make it myself. 

This is my version of granola partly using local ingredients. 

Hey, what's the green one?  It's called pinipig, or duman or in the Ilocano vernacular, dudumen.  Pinipig is made from immature glutinous rice, burned in open fire rendering the grains partly toasted.  Then it is manually pounded.  

Making dudumen is an event that locals enjoy on summer nights.  They build a bone fire and toast the grains.  For single ladies and guys, this is an opportunity to get together and have fun.  Partners alternately pound the grains in tune with the music, as they sing along. 

The green color, which is sometimes dark green to grayish green is due to the green testa of the young grain;  the color depends on how long the grains are toasted. This is unpolished and therefore more healthy. 

There is another form of pinipig that I added, the white ones looking like Rice Krispies , these are toasted popped pinipig.

After the almonds is pulse-chopped, I mixed this with the grains .  Unfortunately, I only have almonds in my pantry but it would be nice to add walnuts, pistachios or Casey nuts. 

2 1/2 c rolled oats

1 1/2 c green pinipig

1  c almonds

1  tsp sea salt

1/2  c olive oil

1/2. c honey

1       Tsp vanilla

The liquid ingredients are added to the grains and nuts until they are thoroughly coated.

The resulting mixture is evenly spread on my non stick baking sheet and poppep in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Mid- bake, the product need to be brought out and mixed to ensure that they are evenly  toasted.  I then added the popped pinipig and brought it back in the oven for another 10 minutes.  

The dried fruits are mixed in thoroughly after the baking is done and allowed to cool.  I would have liked to add apricot and dates  but I only have dried cherries that my BFF Lorna from California gave me when she visited.  So I just added raisins for good measure. 

Notice that the baked product is darker brown because it  was toasted. 

The granola should be stored in dry and sealed containers.  If the yield seem too much, half maybe placed in ziplock bags and put in the freezer for longer shelf life.