Granola is considered to be a strong part of the healthy eating trend.

Granola is one of the simplest products to bake and package.

When I started my business, I made three kinds of granola and sold them wholesale through my local food co-op. Every week I delivered in bulk, using recycled five-gallon molasses tubs. Granola was not a well-known or popular product at the time, but co-op members were familiar with it and bought large quantities of this breakfast cereal.

Granola has an exceptionally long shelf and recipes can be adapted to a wide variety of flavors.

This variation includes coconut, cranberries, and walnuts.

One of the most frequent questions I receive is about recommendations for a product line. Although granola is now a saturated market with corporations selling artisan-style products, there is always room for small home-based food businesses selling locally, especially at a farmers’ market. I suggest you package in plastic or poly bags and skip the expensive glass jars.

Basic Granola
1 ½ cups oil
1 ½ cups honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
10 cups regular rolled oats
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup nuts
½ cup sesame or sunflower seeds, optional
2-4 cups mixed coconut, raisins, craisins, chopped dates, pineapple, etc.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease or pan spray baking pans.
1. In a large bowl or stockpot, mix together oil, honey, vanilla, oats, salt, and nuts. Reserve remaining ingredients to avoid burning: these should be mixed in after granola is finished baking.
2. Scoop ingredients into a large, deep pan (roasting pan or lasagna pan works well), or two jelly roll pans. Bake at 325 degrees for approx 60 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Watch carefully, if your oven runs hot you may need to drop temperature to 300 degrees. When granola is a deep golden brown, remove from oven and stir in remaining ingredients.
3. Stored in an airtight container, granola keeps for several months.

Home-Based Baking at its Best!

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Look who we found at the regional market in central New York.

Sweet Jimmy’s is a relatively new home-based food business in central NY that makes traditional, vegan, and gluten-free products. I was impressed with their unique product concepts and unusual flavor combinations.

We bought Sundried Tomato Butter Cookies and Lime Coconut Macaroons. Fabulous!

After returning home I visited their website and drooled over these chocolate creations.

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And I was totally impressed with these Emoti-Cookie Pops.

Thank you, Jimmy, for letting us use some of your photos! Visit Sweet Jimmy’s on Facebook.

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There’s something special about almond paste. It gives products a subtle flavor and adds a nice texture. A couple of weeks ago I bought a case and made:

Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies, MrMacho’s favorite.

Almond Cherry Biscotti

Almond Buttons

Pear Frangipane Tart

Saturday, after our Hudson Valley Baking Society (HVBS) membership meeting, we had a workshop, Baking with Almond Paste.

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(The mixers were not entirely cooperative.)

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That afternoon at home I made another Pear Frangipane Tart.

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Frangipane is an almond filling made with almond paste (or ground almonds). This filling is most often spread over a crust (tart, cookie, or pie crust) and topped with fresh fruit. Bakeries keep a supply of tart shells par-baked and stored at room temp until ready to finish.

For the above tart, use your favorite sweet cookie crust dough; reserve a small amount of dough to use as a streusel topping. Press most of the dough into a pan and parbake until a light golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes, spread a thin layer of frangipane, and top with a layer of fresh fruit. Sprinkle remaining dough/streusel and bake at 350 degrees until done (approx 20 minutes) until the crust is a deep golden brown and the top is a light brown. Cool before cutting.

Frangipane filling
1 cup almond paste (8 ounces)
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond
½ cup flour
¼ teaspoon salt

Beat together almond paste, sugar, and butter. Add eggs and extracts, beating until smooth. Mix in flour and salt. Spread thin layer over tart crust or use as filling for other products. Store in fridge.

Fresh fruit season is perfect for selling this product, especially at farmers’ markets. Make individual tarts or a large tart cut into small pieces. Optional: add a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.

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Cookies loaded with whole grains and fruit.

Cookies for breakfast? These cookies are certainly healthier than donuts or most breakfast cereals. The healthy eating trend is here to stay. If you sell at a farmers’ market and don’t already have a product that incorporates a whole grain or fruit (fresh or dried), please consider at least one “healthier” product.

Young couples with children shop the markets looking for fresh, local, seasonal, and healthy.

Oatmeal cookies are a natural for this healthy eating trend. Most oatmeal cookie recipes already incorporate oats and dried fruits. Create your own recipe: start with your favorite oatmeal cookie recipe, use whole wheat flour instead of white flour, and add any combination of dried fruits.

My cookies have just enough batter to hold the dried fruits and nuts.

Small cookies are perfect sold in a small bag... bet your customers can't eat just one...

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