I love making homemade granola and I’ve had lots of favourite recipes over the years. This is my current fave as it uses whole apples in the form of applesauce to help with the clumping and the sweetening, and it is loaded with walnuts and I’m completely in love with the texture. There are about 10 plant sources in the combination I make, plus I’ll serve it with a little fresh fruit (or leftover stewed apples) and some yoghurt for the protein, good fats and probiotics.
The combination of wholegrains, nuts and seeds loads the granola with B vitamins, zinc, magnesium, iron, fibre and protein. I especially love serving with fresh fruit as the vitamin C will help to increase the bioavailability of the iron (add in some dried apricots for a little more iron too!).
This recipe is great for breakfast, dessert, or even as a little trail mix for lunchboxes. For a nut free version, increase the oats to 5 cups and swap the nuts for mixed seeds such as sunflower, pumpkin seed, flaxseed, hemp seeds plus black and white sesame seeds.
Ingredients:
2 apples, cored (or 1 cup applesauce)
3 cups water
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups rolled oats
4 cups walnuts, roughly chopped
1 cup of mixed nuts, roughly chopped (e.g. pecans, cashews, almonds, pistachios)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup coconut flakes
Instructions:
1. To make your own applesauce, remove the core and roughly chop the apples. Add to a saucepan with the water and bring to a simmer. Cook until the apple is soft. Allow to cool slightly. Place the apples plus one cup of the liquid in a processor along with the cinnamon, vanilla and coconut oil and blend until smooth. If you are using pre-made applesauce, pour into a bowl and add 1 cup water, vanilla, cinnamon and melted coconut oil.
2. Preheat oven to 180C and line two baking trays with baking paper or a silicon baking mat. In a large bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir well making sure the dry ingredients are coated and starting to clump together. If it’s still a little dry, you can add some more liquid.
3. Divide the mixture evenly between the two baking trays. Bake for 40-50 minutes, giving the granola a good mix every 10 minutes until the mixture dries out and is evenly golden.
4. Allow to cool and store in an air-tight container for up to a month.
Add more plants:
- Mix up the combination of nuts, seeds and grains for the granola base.
- Add in a little of your favourite dried fruit such as raisins, currants, figs, apricots, dates, cranberries.
- Swap or combine the apple with stewed pear.
- Add a tablespoon or two of cacao or matcha powder in with the apple mixture, or a teaspoon of your favourite warming spices such as dried ginger and cardamom.
- Serve with chopped fresh fruit like berries, banana or stone fruit, grated apples or pears, or stewed fruit such as apples, rhubarb, quince or plums, depending what you have available.