Savoury Gruyere Cheese with Thyme Granola

The September term break is finally almost here. I can feel it already! 

By feeling it, I meant that I am feeling the heat from all the preparation for the end of the term tests. So far we are done with 3 of the 5 tests and we are still keeping the grind going for the last 2. I can't remember studying so hard ever in Primary 1! Perhaps cos I just didn't study at all. Honestly!

Okay, enough of study-mama talk. Let's get down to today's post - granola.

I have to admit that granola is not something that most people on these streets eat everyday. They don't even eat it every month or every half a year. I even willing to bet that some lived their lives never to have eaten it at all. I know, because I just fed some to my mother-in-law whose eyebrows shot right into her hair line when she heard about granola.

Or should I have said that when she heard about my granola.

The week before I made a batch of Classic Granola from Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (recipe from the site of Dinner & Dessert). By classic I meant oats that are honey sweetened and mixed with nuts as well as dried fruits. I had to follow the recipe as I was making it for some friends as well and also that it was my first time making it. The granola tasted good but the 2 patrons in my household were unimpressed.

So I had to seek out more interesting way to get them to eat those oats. And then I stumbled on Kitchn's article on Savoury Cheese Herb Granola. Savoury granola was a revelation! 

It tasted like cheese crackers except for it being more crumbly. We happened to have beef stew that day and each of us dropped a heapful of the crunchy savoury oats into our stew and it was a really delicious topping much like the croutons to soups.

I had customised the Savoury Cheese Herb Granola as follows:
(1) increase amount of grated cheese to 1 cup;
(2) swap pepitas with flaxseeds;
(3) swap onion powder for garlic powder; and
(4) increase garlic powder to 1 tbsp.

Although pepitas (pumpkin seeds) are good for you, I just didn't have any on hand that day. Flaxseeds are perfect for our introduction to eating more seeds as it is almost neutral tasting. Even my young patron didn't detect it while munching happily on the crunchy oats.

For more info on the goodness of flaxseeds, please check out here to get the gist.