Friday, February 20, 2009

Ultimate Yogurt Parfaits with Homemade Granola

A couple of Wednesdays ago, my afternoon 'to do' list ran about like this:

- go to gym; arrive in time to watch Tyler's Ultimate on the Food Network during my workout

- pick up farm box

- go home and make granola. I was going to be seeing my brother the next day and I often give him some of my homemade granola. Since baking the Granola Grabber cookies with TWD in the fall, I've been making my own granola. Commercial granolas can be filled with fat and sugars, and by making my own I make it with the ingredients that I choose. The recipe I've been using is really good; a lot less sweet than most store-bought (and most recipes), it lets the flavors of the fruit and nuts shine through. I'm glad to avoid a big shot of sugar in my morning cereal.

So anyway, I got to the gym and the Tyler's Ultimate episode was ""Saturday Breakfast", including granola parfaits. He made the granola and then the other parfait elements. What luck that the episode just happened to fit my plans for that afternoon! I made [this new granola recipe] that day and the parfaits on Saturday.

Granola notes:

I made the granola recipe from Tyler's show, but it turns out that the recipe Tyler made is credited so someone else. The rest of the parfait - the syrup and the yogurt - are Tyler's [I edited that last sentence to make it a little clearer; this was not my own usual granola recipe]

I made a few changes, mostly to boost the nutritional profile:

- used chopped walnuts not almonds

- replaced the flax seeds with wheat germ. Flax seed is a little hard for us to break down as we eat it, so ground flaxmeal is a better bet nutritionally. But the omega-3s can deteriorate with heat, so I've read that it's better to add flax once the granola is cooked. Or if you make the parfaits, you could stir the flaxmeal into the yogurt. I make sure to have a serving of flaxmeal every day.

- cut the brown sugar in half and added 1/4 cup water to the liquids

- used extra light flavor olive oil for the oil

- For the fruit, I stirred in what I like - 1 1/2 cups of a mixture: golden raisins, dried cherries, dried blueberries, and raisins. I left off the banana chips and dried apricots.

granola verdict:

I did a good job of cutting the sugar, because this granola had just the merest hint of sweetness. Because of its long bake time, the walnuts had a deep toasted flavor which was delicious with the crispy oats and the sweetness of the dried fruit.

I like adding the dried fruit after the granola was cooked - the fruit stayed nice and tender.

I'm thrilled with this new granola, but if you are wanting sweeter granola, add the full amount of brown sugar. This recipe doesn't make a clumpy-style granola - there's not enough of the liquid ingredients.

Parfait notes:

- I prepared a 1/3 recipe of the sauce and the lemon-yogurt.

- There was a partial package of mixed berries in the freezer and I filled in with some frozen wild blueberries. I used a Meyer lemon the berry sauce.

- On the show, Tyler used plain yogurt, but the written recipe calls for vanilla yogurt. I used about 1/2 cup of plain - nonfat Sigghi thinned with a little nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt - and stirred in a splash of Meyer lemon juice and a pinch of its zest. You can make it sweeter by using the vanilla yogurt.

This Icelandic-style yogurt is very thick and packed with protein. Since it's expensive, I use it judiciously.

parfait verdict:

This was a delicious breakfast. The sweet berry sauce was enough to balance the tart unsweetened lemon yogurt, and the granola added texture. Healthy and very delicious!

I'm submitting this post to Tyler Florence Fridays. Check out the roundup to see which of Tyler's yummy recipes have been cooked up this week!

25 comments:

Steph said...

The parfait looks amazing!! I don't think I can eat store bought granola either. As usual, I love your healthy adaptations. Regular granola is too sweet and since granola is so addicting, it is not difficult to consume all that sugar along with it.

I think portioning the granola into parfaits and locking it away is the only way I can stop myself from eating an entire batch

Elyse said...

I love the idea of homemade granola, and putting it in a parfait? How perfect! I usually try to do one round of food-blogging-comment-leaving before my breakfast in the morning (and of course, this leaves me starving by the time I'm done). However, this morning, it's worse than usual: you just put exactly what I'm craving for breakfast on your blog! And sadly, I don't have any homemade granola to use with my yogurt. This will all be rectified by tomorrow!

Jessica said...

YUM! I love granola parfaits, I think that they're probably my favorite breakfast treat. That Icelandic yogurt looks really good too. I've never seen it before and I'd like to try it, where do you purchase it?

Donna-FFW said...

This parfait looks absolutely delicious, but what I really liked is the fact that you work out to Tyler. I will have to try that. I bet it makes the heart race faster:)

Anonymous said...

The only cereal I eat is homemade granola. Although I never make the same exact one--I'm always on the look out for new recipes. Yogurt parfaits with granola sound wonderful.

Megan said...

Hmmm - I haven't eaten yet - I wish I could just reach through and grab one!

I only just started making granola - in fact, I made s'mores granola bars for the kids yesterday!

Cathy said...

Wow! After recently discovering how much better homemade granola is than the storebought stuff, I can't wait to try new granola recipes, and this one looks great! I love how granola can be so easily customized to suit personal tastes and whims. These parfaits look incredible -- perfect for breakfast or a snack! Tyler would be good to work out to, I would think. I've been working out to Colin Firth (Pride & Prejudice) all week -- great workout, but no recipe ideas.

Maria said...

I love parfaits for breakfast or for a sweet treat! This one looks delightful!!

Deb in Hawaii said...

What a great choice and I love your healthier adaptations too. I have not seen that yogurt before, I always use Greek yogurt but it sounds delcious. Your parfaits are beautiful!

Jules Someone said...

The granola sounds amazing, and the parfaits are lovely. What's the shelf life on the granola? I'm the only one who would eat it around here.

natalia said...

Ciao Nancy !I love granola in any form but this the romans would say 'รจ la morte sua !' (it's her death ! meaning it's the top !)

Reeni said...

The parfait is beautiful!! The granola delicious! The Icelandic yogurt very interesting, never saw that brand before.

Mary Ann said...

I am really wishing that the granola I made the other day would have lasted more than 24 hours. I had no time to make a beautiful and delicious parfait, like this one.
It looks so good.
I guess that is a good excuse to make more granola!

Anonymous said...

Oh your parfait looks so delicious. I just made homemade granola. I will have to try this. Oh wait, I already ate it all. I'm not sure if I could handle the addiction that would come with the parfait that includes granola.

Matt's Kitchen said...

I love the idea of working out while watching a cooking show. For me it would be something akin to the carrot dangling from the end of a stick to get the stubborn mule to move. "Run toward the food, Matt, you'll catch it eventually!"

Knowing that parfaits as beautiful as these would be waiting for me at the end of a workout would be enough to keep me running for hours.

Joanne said...

I love homemade granola. And yogurt. So this is an excellent combination!

Joanne said...

And by the way...I LOVE watching the food network at the gym. It's the only way I can get through a workout.

NKP said...

I love everything about this - the granola, gourmet yogurt, fruit and the nice tall dessert bowl!

Audrey said...

Oh, my - Icelandic yogurt! I've been meaning to try Greek yogurt since learning about it from you, and now I have a whole 'nother yogurt country to visit. I've never made homemade granola but between this and Ellie recipe I would love to try. Looks wonderful!

I'm laughing as I sign off because my word verification word is "hemoduct." I'm not sure if that's a real body part or not, but doesn't it sound like something that would benefit from a diet rich in granola and yogurt? :)

Katrina said...

I love homemade granola. Smart to lower the sugar. Awesome parfait! Love those, too.

The Food Librarian said...

This looks amazing. Okay, could you drop one by my house tomorrow morning? I have to work, so please come early. Hee hee! :)

Michelle said...

Oh so pretty all layered with goodness. I've never seen gourmet yogurt before and will have to keep my eye out for some!

Anonymous said...

i need to try making my own granola. it's something i've never done. your parfait looks so good.

pam said...

This sounds yummy! I make my own granola too, I think the recipe is on my blog. It is very similar to yours, except mine uses a mix of honey and orange juice and a little walnut oil for the liquid.

Jenny said...

That sounds very good - I've toyed with the idea of making my own granola but don't like most nuts. I might have to reconsider if it make something that looks like that though.