Glorious Granola

Granola is glorious, but often the shop bought ones are laced with sugar and processed grains and really aren’t that good for you. They are just a bag of sugar. And the ones that are good for you might require you to take out a small loan to buy them.

So here is an easy to make, cheap, tasty and low in sugar granola that you can make in a big batch and it’ll keep for weeks to have whenever you need.

An added benefit of this recipe is that it’s a perfect way to use up any fruit that are over ripe.

Ingredients:

125g of pure butter or coconut oil

50g of maple syrup or honey or coconut sugar

300g of Oats

20g flax seeds

20g of chia seeds

1 banana or apple, very ripe

Handful of nuts of choice (I love hazelnuts with apple or pecans with banana)

1 teaspoon of Cinnamon

Optional

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, especially if using apple

Handful of any nuts, seeds or dried fruits

Handful of roasted buckwheat

Method:

Heat your oven to 180 C / gas mark 4 / 350 F

In a large pan melt the butter or oil.

While it is melting blitz your apple or banana in a blender. If you don’t have one, mashing it well with a fork is just as good.

Take the melted butter or oil off the heat and add in the syrup or sugar and mix well.

Add in the blitzed or mashed fruit. This is your wet mix.

Now to your wet mix add all the dry ingredients, oats, flax seeds (make sure they are blitzed/milled), chia seeds, nuts and spices.

Mix well.

Spread the mixture evenly on a large baking try and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, checking and tossing halfway through and making sure the edges don’t burn.

Allow it to cool and then place in a sealed container. It should last for weeks.

Serving suggestion:

As you can see from my insta-worthy pic (I totally whack them all in usually!) I like to serve this in the summer with fresh berries and some 100% cacao. It’s also lovely with some oat milk or yogurt.

You could sprinkle some granola on top of stewed fruit for a light dessert.

This is a super handy snack to bring along with you if you won’t be home for breakfast or are late for work. I’ve often grabbed a container with this in it and bought a yogurt or some milk out and about. Enjoyed with a take away coffee – just bliss!

Dietary Information:

Vegan (if using coconut oil and maple syrup)

Gluten Free

Oats are full of fibre, antioxidants and have been proven to help lower cholesterol.

Flax seeds (when freshly blitzed – they can’t be digested whole) provide accessible Omega 3 essential fatty acids, are loaded with protein and contain lots of vitamins and minerals including Iron, Magnesium, Folate and B vitamins.

Chia seeds are packed with antioxidants, high in Omega essential fatty acids, they include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and protein.

Apples, especially with their skins on, are packed with fibre especially pectin, a type of fibre that acts as a pre-biotic boosting the good bacteria in your gut.

Bananas are high in vitamin B6 which is essential for maintaining a healthy body, they are high in potassium which helps to regulate your blood pressure, and they are a good low fat source of energy.

Nuts are high in healthy fats, make you feel full for longer, are whole foods, help to reduce bad cholesterol, are naturally anti-inflammatory and most are packed with antioxidants.

Cinnamon helps to stabilise your blood sugar and burn fat more effectively.

Nutmeg is naturally antibacterial and contains antioxidants which are compounds that protect your cells from damage caused by free radicals.

Butter or oil are healthy fats essential in your body and brain’s function.