Granola

With two large bags of oats that I bought on sale the other week sitting in my pantry, we sat down to brainstorm on what else we could make aside from oatmeal porridge and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

And then my kids came up with the idea of granola! It's something I've never made before, (in fact I don't think I've even bought granola in recent years), but given their fond memories of the granola they were served at their old school we decided to give it a go. A quick Google search led me to The Best Granola Recipe, so needless to say our expectations were high. Plus I already had most of the ingredients in the house and enough time to pull it all together. My 4 year old volunteered to be the mixer and I just measured everything out for her.

It was so simple to make and turned out to be indeed the best (and only!) granola we've ever made!

Granola

Makes about 2 pounds (1kg)

Adapted from David Lebovitz who adapted from Feast, by Nigella Lawson

• 5 cups (450g) quick cook oats
• 3 cups (375g) almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup (125g) sunflower seeds
• 3/4 cup (100g) untoasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup (120g) packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon dried ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 cup (180g) unsweetened applesauce (or another unsweetened fruit puree)
• 1/3 cup (100g) maple syrup (the original recipe calls for rice syrup)
• 1/4 cup (80g) honey
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

 Preheat the oven to 300F (150C).

1. In a very large bowl, mix together the oats, almonds, sunflower and sesame seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.

2. In a small saucepan, warm the fruit puree with the maple syrup, honey, and oil.

3. Mix the fruit mixture into the dry ingredients until thoroughly dispersed, then divide and spread the mixture evenly on two baking sheets. (If you have ones with sides, often called jelly-roll pans, use them.)

4. Bake the granola for about 45 minutes, stirring every ten minutes, until the granola is deep golden brown.

5. Remove from oven, then cool completely.

Store the granola in a large, airtight container. It will keep for up to one month.