Fig & Spice Granola

Granola is possibly the easiest thing to throw together, and home-made granola tastes way better than store-bought. It feels like comfort food, especially during the winter! I like to eat it with a bit of vanilla yogurt, though warm from the pan is delicious, too.


There are probably a million variations you could come up with for your favorite granola. I was inspired to make this one on a visit to Whole Foods. You could substitute the figs with dried cherries, cranberries, or even raisins.






2 c rolled oats
1/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/3 c slivered almonds
1/2 c dried figs
4 Tbs unsalted butter
4 Tbs honey

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and add the honey. In a bowl, combine oats, sugar, spices, figs and almonds. Pour the honey and butter over the oat mixture and stir to blend.

Spread the granola evenly on a baking sheet and bake until golden and crunchy, 25-30 minutes. Stored in an airtight container, the granola should keep up to 10 days.

A little bit of summer...

Michigan winters can be long. Really long.

Thumbprint cookies have always reminded me of summer, so I decided to whip up a double batch last week to escape the winter doldrums. I used both strawberry jam and peach preserves, but you can use anything you like!

Jam Thumbprints (adapted from Williams-Sonoma "Kids Cookies"):


1 batch makes about 16 cookies


1/2 cup salted butter, softened
3 Tbps sugar
3/4 t vanilla extract
big pinch of salt
1 c all-purpose flour
2-3 Tbps of jelly, jam, or preserves

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Cream the sugar, butter, vanilla and salt in the mixer on medium-high speed, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the flour on low speed, beating to form a smooth dough.

Roll rounded heaping teaspoons between your palms into balls and place about 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Make an indentation with your thumb, and put your preserves or jam into the indentation with a small spoon.

Bake until just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for two minutes, then remove onto cooling racks to cool completely.

Yum!