Who hates Granola??? You need to make this – this weekend!

I mean really – who can hate granola? Mr. C, that’s who.

Well, that just means more for me! I have had a couple of food epiphanies in the last number of years. Like the fact that I actually like almonds. And cashew nuts, dried fruit, pumpkin seeds. The list is endless.

This granola contains all of the above as well as porridge oats, and for a bit of extra protein, Quinoa Flakes. The quinoa is not just for the extra protein but for the fact that Mr C ordered 2kg of quinoa, and instead of actual quinoa ordered the flakes. So we are trying to use them up and this is the perfect recipe for them. They have a really nutty flavour and are crunchy when toasted.

The recipe I used is from a recipe book that I got free with some Flahavans Irish Porridge Oats.As well as porridge being a wonder food with great health benefits, Flahavans is a totally Irish product – and is one of the Love Irish food brands. It is a very clever, and a great campaign which I think everyone should support – buy locally where ever you can. Your local food producers will appreciate it – even if you buy all your seasonal produce as close to home as you can, it will make a difference.

Anyway, back to the food!

To make this you will need a large, or two medium baking trays, that have a bit of a lip on them (this will be useful to minimise mess during to toasting stage) and preheat your oven to 150C.

Take;

125ml Sunflower oil, 200g honey, 1tsp vanilla extract

Place these three in a sauce pan and heat very gently, stirring occasionally.

You will also need;

300g Porridge oats, 200g Quinoa Flakes (or 500g regular porridge oats is fine) 100g flaked almonds, 100g chopped cashew nuts, 75g desiccated coconut, 100g pumpkin seeds, 100g sunflower seeds, 3-400g dried fruits (Dates, apricots,sultanas, cranberries and anything else you like)

Place all the ingredients except the dried fruits into a large bowl and pour over the oil and honey mix.

Stir well ensuring that all of the ingredients are covered. Transfer the mixture to the baking trays to prepared and place into the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes (until golden all over). Bear in mind that you will need to stir this around every 5 minutes or it will burn.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and transfer into the large bowl to cool – try not to leave in the tray or it will cool solid and that is no fun! Try to separate it and you will end up with granola bits all over your kitchen. All over. Everywhere.

Anyway, a at this point, put all the dried fruit into the mix and stir well. Transfer into an airtight jar once cooled completely.

This will keep for about 3 weeks in the airtight jar.

Serve with milk as a cereal or with some plain or Greek yoghurt as a morning, afternoon, evening or midnight snack. Or sprinkle over ice-cream. For a super treat and for a boost in your daily anti oxidant intake mix 100g cacao nibs into the granola before storing.

Right, on that note, I am off to clear off the bits of granola off my kitchen floor – crunchy underfoot in the mornings is not a nice feeling.

Enjoy,

Orls

xx