I have created the best ever: vanilla infused granola, blueberries and lemon cream parfait! I repeat BEST EVER!!!
Just look at this picture if you aren't sold by it and it alone, then you might as well move on. I have to admit that the recipes individually were not my own, but finding them and weaving them together is where I will take the credit. LOL!
I have NEVER had homemade granola that was remotely good. I have been eyeballing these pretty little bags of locally made granola at Whole Foods. But paying eight bucks for the small bag wasn't very appealing to me. So I decided to get back on the horse and find that one awesome granola recipe that I knew had to be online some where! I found that recipe with Alton Brown. For some that will be no big surprise I am sure. I did make a couple of changes to his recipe just so I wouldn't have to run out to the store and buy any ingredients.
I used walnuts rather then cashews. I added a little but of unmelted coconut oil only because I thought I was out of shredded coconut. Then I looked in my freezer and found a big jar of it! Hurray, so it had both. I tried grinding up just a Tbs or so of flax seeds to add to it. But sadly my grinder was jammed. WHICH by the way, if you are new to grinding your own flax seed make sure you clean your grinder very well, or you may be in for a little not so nice surprise the next time you pull it out of your cabinet. Gurrrr! So I added a couple spoonfuls of sunflower seeds to my little bitty food processor and the flax seed and tried to grind it up that way (the flax alone wouldn't have ground up in it) some ground up and some stayed whole. WHAT EVER, its not important really! Also I omitted the raisins. I then stored the granola in mason jars with vanilla pods, to lightly infuse it! All I did was slice the pods length wise, scrape the seeds out and place the pods inside the mason jars, then fill them up with the granola.
Best ever homemade granola recipe ~thank you Alton Brown!~
Next I went out to search for an alternative to using yogurt in my parfait. I am not sure how I stumbled onto this recipe but it is so insanely good you have to use it instead of yogurt!!! Its tart and refreshing and adds the perfect zip to this parfait! I added more lemon juice at the end to make it as tangy as I like. This recipe hails from the Tasty Kitchen site. If by the way you haven't used this site before its time to get going! Its just like Allrecipes only it is newer and seems to be a little more human friendly (I have had recipes pending to be published on that site for MANY years now.)
The third and final layer in this parfait is fruit. I choose blueberries and it was the perfect simple healthy option! I wouldn't change that as long as they are in season.
All you have to do is layer these in pretty glasses or use a small mason jar like I did for a nice country effect. I used a wide zester to make pretty little lemon curls on top, which are totally edible!
Here are the links to the two main recipes:
Lemon Cream: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/lemon-cream-fruit-dip/old i
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