FESTIVE JEWELLED GRANOLA
Healthy homemade winter spiced granola, perfect for breakfast during the festive period. It’s easy to make, and SO much better than store brought granola (no hidden sugars or preservatives!). Importantly, bake a batch of this granola and your home will be transformed into a magical, holiday-scented winter wonderland!
Trust us this will not last long in your house! We love this granola with stewed winter berries and coconut yogurt, but equally we find ourselves sneaking into the kitchen to grab a cheeky handful!
We love the colour that the golden raisins and cranberries bring to the granola - makes us think of Christmas lights. Decant into a Kilner Jar and decorate with ribbon, for a delicious homemade gift.
Ingredients
250g oats
100g Medjool dates
30g pumpkin seeds
2tbsp chia seeds
50g almonds
25g coconut oil melted
4 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground clove
½ tsp nutmeg
The juice from 1 orange
To add once baked: 60g of dried fruit (we used a mixture of raisins, golden raisins and cranberries).
Recipe
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), fan setting. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Place the dates and maple syrup in a blender and blitz until it forms a paste.
Place the oats, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, almonds and spices into a large mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Add the date paste, melted coconut oil and orange juice. Mix well until well combined.
Spread the mixture over the parchment paper and spread down with the back of the spoon (this will ensure clumps of the mixture will stick together, forming clusters).
Bake for 10 minutes, give the mixture a mix and again gently press down. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes (taking out of the oven and mixing every 5 minutes). The granola should be slightly golden.
Leave to cool slightly before adding the dried fruits.
Top tips
*The granola will start hardening as it cools down, so don’t worry if it feels a little soft when its still warm.
*Ensure you keep in an airtight jar to keep its freshness - however, we have a feeling you wont have to worry about this too much as it never lasts very long in our households…!
*We recommend using rolled (old fashioned oats). Rolled oats are big in size, and the oats combined with the dates helps crunchy clusters to form - no powdery granola here!
