Crunch Time Granola

One of my all time favourite breakfasts to have is granola. However, it can be hard to get hold of a decent one that isn’t pumped full of nasty refined sugars, flavourings and oils. Like, what even is glycerin and why is it in so many brands of granola?! 

That’s why I’ve come up with this delicious recipe to make my own, without the nasty stuff. It’s all 100% natural, incredibly easy to make and most importantly tastes amazing. Oh, and it’s good for you, so dig in.

Living up to it’s ‘Crunch’ name, the recipe includes 3 different types of nuts, seeds and fruit. This is such an amazing way to start your day, providing you with loads of energy.

The beauty of granola is you can mix it up and add whatever you like. The nuts, seeds and fruit I use here are my favourite but you can of course change things up a bit.

It’s Crunch Time

Ingredients

2 cups Oats – I use gluten free

1/2 cup each of 3 Nuts – Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts

1/2 cup Whole Almonds

1/4 cup each of Sunflower Seeds and Pumpkin Seeds

1 tbsp Poppy Seeds

1 cup Mixed Dried Fruit – Raisons, Cranberries, Apricots

1/4 cup Desiccated Coconut

1/4 cup Date Syrup

1/4 cup Raw Virgin Coconut Oil

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Ground Ginger

Tips

• Try to find 100% natural dried fruit with no added sugars, oils or sulphur dioxide (preservative). Did you know natural dried apricots should be brown not orange!

• If you can’t find date syrup, don’t worry you can use pure maple syrup too. Date syrup is a little thicker and I personally prefer it in this recipe.

• If you don’t have cup measurements, use a mug instead and make sure you use the same mug to measure all of the ingredients so that the proportions are right.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F).
2. Put the coconut oil and date syrup into a baking tray and place in the oven until the oil melts.
3. Roughly chop the almonds, pecans and walnuts (remember to leave 1/2 cup of almonds whole). You can do this with a knife, a food processor, or in a pestle and mortar. Almonds can be quite hard to crush so I used my NutriBullet with the milling blade for a few seconds.
4. Place the crushed nuts and the rest of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and combine. note: the fruit can get a bit chewy after being baked so feel free to add the fruit at the very end.
5. The coconut oil and date syrup mixture should be nice and melted now, so stir it into the mixing bowl.
6. When combined, pour the mixture into the baking tray and gently compress it down with the back of a wooden spoon.
7. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the top from burning.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about an hour and then keep in an airtight container.

If you’ve been eyeing up my glass jar, check out my video below on how to decorate your own: