September 2021 - Little Red Wagon Granola

September is here and we hope you’re getting to enjoy some beautiful fall weather! September is a great time for apple picking and apple harvest festivals for those lucky enough to have orchards around them. Apple dumplings are a great way to enjoy the spoils of your apple picking efforts either at the orchard or the grocery store. Try our “best apple dumplings” recipe made with Big Apple Granola for a new spin on a classic treat.

Ingredients:

Dumplings:

4 baking apples (we like gala, granny smith, or honey crisp, but this varies based on sweetness/tartness preference)
1 cup Big Apple granola
¼ cup brown or coconut sugar
¼ cup Greek style yogurt
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tsp cinnamon
1 package refrigerated pie crust (2 count)

Sauce:

1 cup packed brown or coconut sugar
1 cup water
½ cup butter, cubed

Egg Wash:

1 egg, divided into yolk and white
1 tablespoon water

Optional Toppings:

Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350°F.
Butter/grease a 13×9 baking pan.
On a large cutting board or work surface, cut apples in half, peel and core inside. Scoop out middle of apple to accommodate about an 1/8 cup filling.
In a small bowl, mix granola, sugar, yogurt, melted butter, and cinnamon.
Prep egg wash by beating egg white mixture in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, beat and mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water
On work surface/cutting board, open pie crusts and cut each in half.
Using a pastry brush, coat pie crust halves with the beaten egg white.
Place apple halves on the center of each pie crust section.
Spoon granola filling on top of each apple (it will mound a bit on top of the apple).
Pull up pie crust sides over the apple/granola mixture and pinch off any excess pie crust. Either fold over crust and pinch to seal or use a fork to gently press seams to seal.
Place apple dumplings in greased 13×9 pan.
Using pastry brush to coat the dumplings in egg yolk wash mixture.
In a medium saucepan, bring sugar, water, and butter to a boil. Stir to ensure it is well blended.
Pour sauce over apple dumplings and place pan in the oven
Bake at 350°F for approximately 50 minutes until the dumplings are golden brown.
Allow the best apple dumplings to cool slightly and serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

It’s that time of year again: we’ve traded summer picnics for school pickups and lazy days for crazy ones. While back-to-school time can be exciting, we know it’s also a bit stressful. As your schedules begin to fill up with after-school activities and you’re rushing out the door in the mornings, it can be tough to find a breather. So in the spirit of ease and convenience (two necessities for family meal prep), here are three easy back-to-school snacks you can make to enjoy at home or on the go.

Back-to-school snack #1: A new twist on an old classic

Who doesn’t love a good “ant on a log”? It’s a timeless classic we all grew up enjoying, so why not pass the tradition down—but maybe with a bit of a twist.

Your typical ant on a log usually consists of a few strips of celery, a healthy dose of peanut butter, and a couple raisins sprinkled on top. But why not swap out the raisins for a little extra fiber crunch? Our Crunchy Monkey granola has the perfect sweetness to balance out the richness of the peanut butter.

Plus, with prep time lasting practically seconds, this snack can free up some time during your packed schedule.

Back-to-school snack #2: A sweet treat for sour days

Let’s face it, some days just aren’t as great as others. Whether it’s a particularly hard test at school, or the typical growing pains of adolescence, our kids will need a special pick-me-up every now and then. So for the days when smiles aren’t shining as bright, these Magic Bars will bring a little joy and sweetness.

You can bake the Magic Bars ahead of time, and store them away in an air-tight container for a rainy day. Or, better yet, carve out some space for a little extra love and support while baking the bars together!

(These easy back-to-school snacks call for our classic Original Granola, the tried-and-true flavor that started it all)

Back-to-school snack #3: A cereal you can feel good about

A short trip down the breakfast cereal aisle leaves most parents feeling overwhelmed and disappointed. With hard-to-read and sickly sweet ingredient lists, it’s hard to find an option that doesn’t leave you feeling bad about the short lived energy high and the inevitable sugar crash you know is headed your kids’ way.

Luckily, granola is a healthier alternative that makes it so the beloved cereal breakfast or after-school bowl doesn’t have to go missing from our kids’ lives (or our own)!

A small bowl of granola, packed with a healthy dose of fiber to offset the sugars and good fats to support brain development, can be an easy swap that won’t leave the kiddos bouncing off the walls minutes later.

Want to mix it up? Opt for yogurt instead of milk, or simply snack on the granola as you would any regular trail mix.

Little Red Wagon Granola: Wherever your snacking takes you

With this many options, there’s no doubt you’ll create dozens of easy back-to-school snacks with Little Red Wagon Granola, so make sure to pick some up today!