Granola is one of my favourite brekkies and the best way to jazz up rolled oats once I’ve exhausted porridge through winter. With a dollop of yoghurt and honey, it feels more of a dessert than a breakfast, and although the most thrify option is to buy it by the kilo from Tesco, I mostly avoid it as this can disappear as fast as a bag of popcorn, which is very fast in my company. If you have a good stock of nuts and seeds, I’ve found you can make your own over and over for next to nothing, and play around with combinations you won’t find in the supermarket.
I never properly measure ingredients in cooking, not because I’m a culinary expert but simply because I can’t be arsed and am more of a ‘throw it in’ kind of girl, living by the belief that cooking is more of an art than a science of precision. As such my baking efforts are hit or miss, although I have generally aired on the lucky side having recently won the wooden spoon award at a bake off competition at work (brag alert). I estimated my granola ratios at around 3 parts oats to 1 part nuts and seeds, plus a generous gloop of honey and golden syrup- the more used, the crunchier granola you get. I love anything with a sweet and salty balance so I made this batch with a sprinkle of cinnamon and Maldon sea salt, and nuts wise opted for almonds and Brazil nuts for their buttery texture. I’ve seen recipes using whole nuts, but I found chopped made sure they were evenly distributed and toasted.
Recipe:
Approx 300g oats
100g chopped nuts
50g – 100g pumpkin and sunflower seeds
100g honey
50g golden syrup
3 tablespoons of coconut oil
Handful of large raisins
Sea salt and cinnamon seasoning
Preheat the oven to 150 C. Mix all the dry ingredients including the seasoning in a large bowl. Gently heat the syrup, coconut oil and honey and pour into the oat mix, stirring with a couple of spatulas or wooden spoons. Add more if necessary making sure it all clumps together, then spread out onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bake in the oven for 30-35 mins, stirring halfway through to make sure everything gets toasted. Don’t be tempted to leave it in for longer as this easily burns- you will taste the burn on your nuts and seeds and you will be sorry! Once done allow to cool and mix with your raisins before transferring to an airtight container.
Delish with coconut yoghurt and sliced banana, this definitely tastes more wholesome and flavoursome without the addtitives of shop bought granola. If you have any more experimental granola flavour combinations for me to try, I’d love to hear them.
Appetite London 