Homemade Granola

My Grandma used to buy ‘Crunchy’ for my brother and I to have for breakfast when we went to stay with her in Portsmouth, so I have special childhood memories of granola-type cereals. The ones we can buy in supermarkets have a lot of oil and sugar added, so I wanted to try making it at home. Most homemade granola recipes, however, have a long list of ingredients and use apple juice or puree as a sweetener, which is wet, so they take a long time to go crunchy in the oven. I wanted to find a simpler, quicker and healthier recipe. I found a great recipe to use as a starting point in a 5:2 fasting diet book I have and Nigella Lawson also has a similar one in her Simply Nigella book. This is my version.

Ingredients

2 cups rolled or porridge oats

½ cup seeds (I use a mix of pumpkin, sunflower and a few sesame seeds)

1 cup roughly chopped whole almonds (or whatever nuts you like)

¼ cup oil

¼ cup maple syrup (you can also use honey or golden syrup)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
2. Mix all of the ingredients together really well with a spatula and spread in a thin, even layer on the baking trays.
3. Bake for 10 minutes then turn the granola over using a turner/fish slice (I find it easier to use 1 in each hand to do this!). Return to the oven for another 5 minutes (swapping the trays round this time).
4. Leave the granola to cool on the trays for 10 minutes then serve. Store in an airtight container for up to a month.

Tips

My mother-in-law uses my recipe now, but she likes to add coconut and sultanas to the jar once it’s cool. I prefer it without dried fruit – I eat it with yoghurt and fresh fruit (mango and blueberries is my favourite combination). My kids eat it with milk or on its own, but they tend to pick most of the nuts out!

To reduce the fat and calories you can leave out the oil if you like; it just gives it more crunch. Without it, it’s more of a toasted muesli.