Granola

In an effort to minimise the number of orphaned small amounts of fruits, seeds and nuts in your store cupboard as a result of creating these wholesome recipes, I have written them in a way that means that if made together you will use the whole bag (in most instances) of the average supermarket sized unit of each ingredient.  Whatever you have left you can use to experiment with your own “Trail Mix”recipe.

500g Rolled oats (If your bag is a 600g one just use the lot)

500g rolled wheat

150g flaked almonds (or slivered if you like more crunch)

100g pumpkin seeds

100g golden flaxseed

150g walnut pieces

100g dessicated coconut

Method

Mix together well all the above ingredients.  Then add 1 cup of grapeseed or sunflower oil, and 1 cup of maple syrup until all is lightly coated and well blended.  Lay out fairly thinly on 2 or 3 baking sheets or roasting trays lined with baking parchment – then roast in a 180C oven for about 10 minutes or until nicely golden.  Keep a close watch as they can go from crispy to cremated pretty quickly! 

Take out of the oven before they go too brown and don’t be tempted to stir for a few minutes, the mixture will crisp up as it cools and this way you get lovely clumps of granola stuck together.  When cool mix in the following fruits:

200g dried cranberries (slice randomly if they are whole)

100g of dried cherries (if you can find them and they are not too expensive you can use them instead of the cranberries – really lovely)

100g dried blueberries

200g nice big juicy black raisins

250g golden raisins/sultanas

250g sliced dried apricots

At this point the sky is the limit, and frankly as long as you vaguely stick to the measurements of the fruits you can add in almost anything you like. For a tropical version try adding dried mango and papaya, or go really fruity and add dates, dried figs and even prunes.’ Keep it in an airtight box or as we do, in giant glass kilner type jars.  When presented in this way they make good presents too with a homemade label made from left over christmas wrapping and a nicely written list of ingredients tied with pretty string around the neck.

Just a thought…

Maple, Pecan, Cinnamon  and Apple Granola

 A hot favourite in our house is swapping the walnuts for pecans in the recipe above, and taking out all the fruit except the raisins and sultanas. Add chopped up dried apple rings and a really good pinch of cinnamon.  This makes a really comforting combination that is particularly loved by children and adults when used as a topping for anything as virtuos as porridge or decadent as ice cream, or even served with hot milk in the winter months for a hearty breakfast.