I do love a bit of granola in the morning, with a big blob of full fat yoghurt on top. Even better if you mash half a banana into the yoghurt first. I have also made this granola for a couple of corporate event catering jobs we’ve done where it has gone down a treat with our clients.
In supermarkets these days, there are a plethora of different granolas, some which look healthy but are actually really high in sugar, some super healthy and expensive, but if you get into the habit of making it yourself, it is cost effective, extremely easy to memorise especially if you’re in the habit of not necessarily measuring things out, like me! and completely customisable if you want something that’s less sweet or more nutty or fruity.
If you have guests staying over then it’s a great thing to have on the breakfast table in the morning. It is extremely easy to make and you can use all sorts of different things that you might have to hand or want to use up. You just have to keep roughly the same formula, comprising oats, nuts and seeds, oil and syrup, although it is pretty forgiving so you can be quite relaxed about measuring it out. The only thing you do have to be carefu
l with is the cooking because there's nothing worse than burnt nuts!
There are also two secret ingredients that must not be forgotten - a grinding or two of sea salt and a grating or so of nutmeg make all the difference to the finished results!
I’m not usually a big fan of american style cups measurements, however in this instance it works quite well. I have also provided weights measurements for those who can be bothered to get the scales out!
4 cups porridge oats
2 cups nuts / seeds - pumpkin, flax, sesame seeds, cashews, brazil, almonds, pecans
½ - 1 cup oil - sunflower, coconut, even a mild olive oil
½ - 1 cup syrup - agave, honey, golden syrup
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp nutmeg
Or put a big bowl on a weighing scale and weigh out as follows:
300g porridge oats
150-200g seeds and nuts
120g oil
50g syrup
2g sea salt
2g nutmeg
Stir all together until everything is evenly distributed and covered in oil and syrup.
Cook at 170 degC for 25 mins. If you set your timer for 12 minutes and then take it out and turn it round then that reduces the risk of localised burning if you have hot spots in your oven. If you want to use coconut flakes then you can add them in at this point. After 25 mins, it should be just a nice golden brown when you take it out.
Leave it for a while until it is completely cooled, then use the baking parchment to transfer it to an airtight container. It will break it into nice big clumps as you do this. At this point add in 1-2 cups of dried fruit - cranberries, raisins, golden raisins, dried figs and apricots are all good options (although not necessarily all at once!)
Enjoy with aforementioned blob of yoghurt, preferably full fat and unadulterated. I like Lidl’s own brand available by the big 1 litre tub!