So, I asked on Twitter this morning if you want my homemade granola recipe, and the response was good, so here goes. I tried MANY different recipes before settling on this, and it’s really more of a method than a hard-and-fast recipe, which I think is easier and more flexible anyway.
INGREDIENTS
One cup each:
- Oats – old-fashioned/rolled (not instant)
- Coconut – flaked, desiccated, ground
- Nuts & seeds (roughly chopped, if large) – whatever you have or that strikes your fancy
- Dried fruit (roughly chopped, if large) – again, whatever you like
1/3 to 1/2 a cup:
- Coconut oil
- Honey (or other liquid sweetener)
And:
- A pinch of salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Optional:
- A sprinkle of protein powder
- A spoon of cocoa/cacao
- 1 tsp vanilla
METHOD
- Preheat your oven to about 150ºC. This is a low-and-slow recipe, don’t be tempted to turn the heat up to speed things up (I did once, and it wasn’t pretty). If your oven has the option to choose the element, choose the bottom one, and turn off the fan.
- In a large mixing bowl, measure out your dry ingredients (except the fruit) and mix them up.
- Melt the coconut oil and honey so they are both liquid (I do it in the microwave, but you do you).
- Pour the melted oil and honey in and mix it up. You’re looking for a slightly sticky consistency, and for all the mixture to be covered. If it’s not yet covered, melt a little more and mix that it until you get your desired consistency.
- Add the salt into the mix now, to keep it from being far too sweet, and add your cinnamon. If you are using any of the optional ingredients, now’s your moment.
- Pour into a dish* and pop it into the oven. Take it out every 15-20 minutes to stir and check the colour.
- Add in the dried fruit when you are about 10 minutes from done – just sprinkle them on top and stir into the mixture.
- After about 30-45 minutes or so, it should be sticky, clumping up and golden – that’s when I take it out.
- Keep stirring it while it cools – the less often you do so, the larger the clumps (and the more likely it will be to stick to your dish)
We eat this with our morning fruit and yoghurt for breakfast, and I sometimes have a little bowl with some milk as a snack. It lasts for about a week in an airtight container kept on the counter (I don’t know if it lasts longer than that, because we always finish it within a week).
* Now, I’ve found the dish is important. Most recipes I found recommended using a cookie/sheet pan, and I found that dried my granola out too much, making it dry crunchy, instead of a sticky/chewy crunchy, which I prefer. So I use a ceramic baking dish for mine, but you may do as you please.
eat with a spoon 