Anita’s Homemade Granola

July 15th, 2014

I’ve never been much of a fan of most breakfast type cereals, including muesli and porridge, but one day Thomas Dux was handing out little trials of granola and yoghurt. Both tasted amazing, and their marketing had worked brilliantly – I was in the door buying granola and yoghurt (the yoghurt I had liked is no longer being stocked, but I have now come across the FiveAM yoghurt which I love, and I am trying to make my own yoghurt as well).

The granola was Irrewarra Sourdough’s granola, and it is strangely addictive. So addictive that I was sad each time I finished a pack. So I decided it was time to make my own and I tried many different recipes on the internet. Many were not sweet enough, others fell apart easily, and some just lacked a bit of flavour.

I ended up coming up with my own version, which is now loved by my family, so much, that when a batch is finished everyone gets sad…

Anita’s Homemade Granola

Recipe by Anita @ Leave Room for Dessert

150g honey
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
140g (3/4 cup) vegetable oil

500g (5 cups) rolled oats
400g (3 cups) mixed nuts (I use what I have in the cupboard, almond, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecan, walnuts etc), chopped
40g (1/4 cup) sunflower seeds
40g (1/4 cup) pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
65g (1 cup) shredded coconut
40g (1/4 cup) hemp seeds

Preheat oven to 150C (fan forced). Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Mix together the oats, nuts, seeds and coconut in very large bowl.

Whisk together the honey, cinnamon, vanilla essence and vanilla bean seeds (if using) and salt in a bowl until well combined. Add the oil and whisk again until well combined.

Pour the honey mixture into the oat mixture and stir with a spoon or spatula until well combined.

Divide the mixture onto the two trays and push to fill the tray. Once the mixture has filled the tray, make a line in the centre of each (this helps make the cooking more even). Make sure to press the mixture down firmly.

If you want smaller pieces more like a muesli,

Bake for 15- 20 minutes, stirring the granola occasionally (every 5-10 minutes) to ensure even cooking. Once cooked to your liking, turn the temperature down to very low and allow the granola to dry in the oven 10min at 100C – this will make it store longer.

If you want large chunks:

Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the granola is nice and golden (checking and rotating trays after 10 minutes). Wait until the granola has cooled completely before breaking into edible sized pieces.

When breaking the pieces apart, you may find the edges break easily, but the centre portion may have some give or stickiness. If this is the case, put the broken pieces back in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Again, wait until completely cooled before transferring to a container for storage.

Poached Pears

Recipe adapted from Taste

4 brown pears, free from blemishes and bruises, peeled, cored and cut into quarters
lemon juice (optional)
1 cup sugar
3 cups water
1 vanilla bean, split, seeded

Place sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add pears and a split, seeded vanilla bean. Allow the pears to simmer, covered with a square of baking paper, in the liquid for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Turn occasionally to ensure even cooking. Serve pear warm or cooled with a little poaching liquid.

Stewed Rhubarb

This made quite a tart rhubarb, although when served with sweet granola and poached pears it was nice. It you are not serving with other sweet ingredients, more sugar will be required.

100g rhubarb
50g sugar (more may be required, it depends on the tartness of your rhubarb)

Cut rhubarb into 5cm lengths (approx), and place in a saucepan with sugar. Cook 5-10 minutes or medium heat until sugar is dissolved and rhubarb is tender.

2 Comments

  1. Natalia says:

    This is so delicious, where’s the next batch?

  2. Mum says:

    This is the best granola I have ever tasted, the only problem is you want to keep eating more and more 🙂

Leave a Comment