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Gorgeous Granola

Submitted by adriana on Sat, 15/01/2011 - 18:21

granola jpeg gf.jpgGosh, I had forgotten how much I love granola.  During the Christmas holidays I watched glumly as my kids tucked into bowls of sugary disgusting cereal which dissolves into a rather alarming mass when left in the milk for a few hours.  So, with some trepidation I embarked on a PR campaign for good old granola preparing them for Mummy's New Year Resolution- getting the kids to have a healthier breakfast.  Well I'm pleased to tell you that despite the healthy contents, this cereal is a down right winner.  The kids loved it and have eaten bowl after bowl and now request it for pudding.  Now that's what I call a result!

And for those of us embracing even more dietary restrictions this year, this cereal is wheat and dairy free. 

Yield

8-10 servings, maybe more or less

Preparation time

10 minutes to prepare plus about 20 minutes in the oven

Ingredients

100g almonds (skin on and whole if possible)
100g hazelnuts or pecans
150g gluten free oats
100g dessicated coconut (unsweetened)
A good handful of pumpkin seeds
A good handful of sunflower seeds
100 ml clear honey
40g light brown sugar
60 ml sunflower oil
2 heaped tablespoons of molasses or treacle
50g mixed raisins or sultanas
50g organic apricots (unsulphered if possible)

Directions

Preheat oven to 150 C/ 300 F or Gas Mark 2

In a large bowl combine the almonds, hazelnuts, gluten free oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and dessicated coconut.  In a separate bowl cut the apricots into smallish chunks and combine with the raisins.  Set the bowl of dried fruit aside. 

In a small saucepan combine the sunflower oil, honey and brown sugar.  Heat over gentle heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, but do not allow the mixture to boil.  Add the molasses and stir through.

Pour the honey oil, molasses  mixture over the almond, seed and oat mixture, stirring to combine.  Spread the mixture on a large baking tray making sure it's evenly coated with the honey mixture.  Bake for 7 minutes and then stir through.  Bake for a futher 7 minutes until the mixture is lightly brown.  Watch it carefully as it can burn.  Take the mixture out of the oven and pour into a large bowl.  Add the chopped apricots and raisins and stir through.  Leave the mixture to cool for an hour or so before placing in an air tight jar or tin.  The granola will keep for about 1 month. 

Notes

Natural molasses is high in zinc and is incredibly nutritious.  You can purchase it at health food stores and it's usually called 'blackstrap Molasses'. The taste is quite strong so use it sparingly.   If you can't find this you can use treacle instead.

The organic unsulphered apricots look rather ugly compared to their bright orange cousins, but the flavour of these makes up tenfold for their rather sinister appearance. "They taste like sweets"....my little ones pronounced after I spent a good 15 minutes getting them to try a tiny little bite.