Granola has now become a breakfast staple with many of the well known cereal makers producing variations of this 'hippy' start to the day.
However, many of them are high in refined sugars, hidden and disguised under various names and lulling us into thinking we are not eating as much as we think. For example of just two well know brands I looked at the second ingredient listed after the oats is SUGAR, followed by honey, and dried glucose syrup, making up 10% of your daily recommended intake in one small serving of 45g, and who has just 45g of cereal in a bowl?? Along with flavourings and palm oil they are not as healthy as advertised.
I love to make my own Granola as it's so quick and you can tweak the recipe to use what you have in the kitchen. Check out my Chocolate Granola here too, it's delicious and very popular with hubby.
SPICED CRUNCHY GRANOLA
Ingredients:
Vanilla Essence 2 teaspoons
Coconut oil, melted 2 tablespoons
Maple syrup, 1 tablespoon
Flahavans Organic Oats 200g
Roasted Buckwheat 100g
Sunflower Seeds 50g
Pumpkin Seeds 150g
Flaxseeds 100g
Sesame seeds, tablespoon
Chopped mixed nuts 70g (Brazil, walnut, almond, hazelnut etc.,)
Medjool Dates 60g
Ground Cinnamon 2 heaped teaspoons
Ground Ginger 1 heaped teaspoon
METHOD:
Prepare your mise-en-place by weighing and gathering all your ingredients.
If using a dehydrator line your trays, you will need 3.
If using a regular oven, set on the lowest heat possible and line 2/3 large baking trays with baking parchment.
In a small pan gently heat the oil, syrup and vanilla essence until melted.
Add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir well to combine everything.
Add the melted ingredients to the dry and stir again ensuring all the dry ingredients are well coated.
Spread on the trays in a thin layer and cook in the dehydrator at about 41 degrees for 8/10 hours. In a conventional oven ‘low and slow’, you do not want to burn the nuts and seeds, so after 30 minutes check, and leave for longer if necessary.
And there you are, all natural and homemade and just as you like it!
Recipe by Patricia Alexander-Bird, Registered Nutritional Therapist
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