Crunchy Fruity Granola

This is a new cookbook of ours by Mollie Katzen. The inside is just as delightful as the cover. It's written with Katzen's creative style featuring cute illustrations, charming kid quotes, special kid recipes with instructional sketches, and insightful tips for adults on how to enjoy cooking with preschoolers. It's awesome.






Each recipe has two sets of instructions - one for the adult and another for the preschooler. Here you see the preschooler's recipe for 'Crunchy Fruity Granola' featuring numbered box steps, each with a basic picture and a few key words or numbers. Perfect for a preschooler to read and even lead the way.






Mollie says, "Take the stress out of measuring liquids by placing the measuring cup in a pie pan. Let your child pour or spoon the oil into the measuring cup. The pie pan will catch the spills." Isn't that a terrific tip? We also used the pie pan for the dry ingredients. Liv really enjoyed the freedom of not having me helping her be careful.





She stirred the dry ingredients in the biggest bowl we have.

Our granola had: almond slices, chopped cashews, raisins, and dried cranberries + blueberries. We followed the recipe exactly, except I used agave nectar instead of honey.






How many of you stir the dry ingredients WHILE you stir the wet?!











I used parchment paper instead of nonstick spray, and it worked fine. Not using honey, I anticipated that the granola wouldn't clump together, and it didn't. What chunks there are, fall apart quickly. Other than missing the convenience of popping nuggets in your mouth, it didn't matter. It tasted great, and the girls Loved it. I was super surprised that Liv actually went bonkers over it. She rarely goes bonkers over food. So, I 'd put it in a cup for her and she'd eat it that way -- on the go.


This is what happens if you forget to bring the cup back inside.












TAH DAH! Our Crunchy Fruity Granola.