Using wintery, warming spices and comforting oats, this recipe is the perfect antidote to the cold weather. Oats provide long-lasting energy and are a fantastic food for helping overcome the winter blues. When we also combine molasses, cinnamon and ginger in an amazingly tasty granola, this is good enough to healthily satisfy any sweet cravings and works well as a breakfast or dessert.
Add your choice of nuts or seeds to the granola – the best part about making your own is that you get to decide exactly what you want in it! Walnuts and macadamia nuts work extremely well with granola, as do smaller pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
Ingredients
Granola
5 Essential ingredients:
- 2-3 tbsp Coconut oil
- 2 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ground ginger
- 2 cups Oats
- 1 tbsp Molasses (or another sweetener of your choice such as honey or agave nectar. Molasses has a richer flavour, so using something else may alter the end taste).
- Then add your own choice of a handful of nuts, seeds, dried fruits and spices using whatever you’ve got at the time. Here’s an example of what works really well:
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Raisins, cranberries, chopped dates or chopped figs. **OK, I’ve tried raisins in granola recipes many times before, and I have to say that I usually end up burning them, so I would suggest adding raisins or dried cranberries or any other dried fruit after baking the granola – it means you get the crunchy granola with chewy raisins and no burnt bits!**
- Chopped nuts of your choice (walnuts work especially well with this recipe)
- Vanilla extract
- A pinch of pink Himalayan mountain salt (trust me, a pinch brings out the taste of most chocolatey or sweet snacks)
HOW TO:
Preheat oven to 170 C
Mix all of your dry ingredients together in a big bowl, including whichever nuts or seeds you’re choosing to use.
Gently heat the coconut oil, molasses and vanilla extract (if you’re using it) in a pan over a low heat. Ensure the mixture doesn’t boil, as you want to keep the nutritional content of the coconut oil and molasses intact.
When warmed and melted – add your dry ingredients to the oil and molasses and stir well until everything is mixed and coated completely.
Take the mixture off the heat and spread on a baking tray covered with baking paper.
Bake for 15-25 minutes (check on the granola every so often to make sure it doesn’t burn)
Remove from oven a leave to cool for a few hours before placing in a jar to store for up to 2 weeks…. Although it’s likely to last about 2 days once everyone has had a taste of it….
Baked Pear
- 1 large pear
- 1 tsp honey
HOW TO:
Pre-heat oven to 200 C
Cut one large pear in half and drizzle on a tiny bit of honey
Place on a baking tray and bake for around 10 – 15 minutes to warm it up
When the pear is done, take it out of the oven and scoop out a little of the inside to make room for some of the granola.
Finally, pour a handful of granola onto the pear and serve warm with a dollop of non-dairy yoghurt or vegan ‘nice cream’ and some warmed berries to make it extra wintery and cosy.
There’s enough granola to serve quite a few people, and if you purchase a few pears to share around, this can serve as a delicious healthy treat for everyone! (If you live by yourself though, you’re in luck – the granola will last you about 2 weeks, so add it to smoothies, porridge, museli, vegan yogurt or ice cream, or eat by the handful when you’re craving something sweet….)
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