Home-made granola
I have many food allergies and despite
the fact that I am growing out of some
of them, I prefer being on the safe side,
which means making things myself.
Homemade with premium ingredients
tastes good, and it has an aftertaste
of achievement and glory. Granola is
dead easy to make. The hardest part
is probably to open the packets of
ingredients. The coconut oil and flour in
the recipe are very fragrant, to the point
that it diffuses into the entire apartment.
It smells like I’ve whipped up a couple
of batches of cake. You really have no
excuse not to give this recipe a try – you
will never go back to the store-bought
version, I promise. No more annoyed
face in the morning because you have
to discard all the hard pieces of dried
papaya and dates!
Makes 6 cups
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup almonds, chopped roughly
• ½ cup hazelnuts, chopped roughly
• ½ cup sunflower seeds
• ½ cup coconut flour
• ¼ cup desiccated coconut
• ¼ cup chia seeds
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar (optional)
Wet ingredients
• 1 cup Coconut Matter’s WILD virgin
coconut oil
• ¼ cup honey
• 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 250°F. Mix all
the dry ingredients together. Mix the
wet ingredients until smooth. Combine
the wet and the dry ingredients in a
large bowl until all dry ingredients are
coated with the wet mixture.
2. Spread the mixture on a baking
sheet in a thin layer. You may have to
bake two batches if you have a small
oven.
3. Bake for one hour, stirring every
20 minutes to ensure it doesn’t burn.
Remove the granola from the oven and
leave it untouched for 30 minutes to an
hour, as granola clusters will form as it
cools.
4. Once cooled, enjoy with your
favourite mixture of fruits and yogurt.
There are so many breakfast granola
combos (- some with chopped fresh
fruits, others with compotes) you can
create. I love granola with Greek-style
yogurt. Here are a few of my favourite
fruit combos to try with your granola:
• Mango/raspberry/passionfruit: my all-
time favourite fruit combo. I use it in
my overnight oats, cakes, pancakes
and muffins.
• Mango/pomegranate/passion fruit.
• Banana/passion fruit.
• Strawberry and rhubarb compote
(homemade of course, with chunks
of cooked strawberry and rhubarb, to
add more texture).
• Peach/raspberry.
•
Apple/cinnamon compote
(homemade, with chunks of cooked
apple, to add more texture).
If you made too much you can pack
them in Mason jars with fancy labels
and ribbons and store them or give as
gorgeous homemade gifts.
BAKING WITH COCONUT OIL
For the dairy intolerant, coconut oil is a godsend for baking. For everyone else, coconut oil is still a godsend for baking.
When substituting coconut oil for other fats in baking, a good rule of thumb is to use a 1:1 ratio, although if you wish to be
more accurate, some adjustments must be made depending on what you want to substitute coconut oil for. These rules
might not be 100 per cent accurate, but they have worked for me:
• Coconut oil for butter:
butter is made of 80 per cent fat and 20 per cent water, so to be accurate, you should use the
same ratio in coconut oil and water – i.e. replace 1 cup of butter with 8/10 cup of coconut oil and 2/10 cup of water.
• Coconut oil for shortening:
if the shortening in the recipe is in solid form, use a 4:3 ratio – i.e. replace 1 cup of
shortening with 3/4 cup of solid coconut oil.
• Coconut oil for vegetable oil:
easy peasy, use a 1:1 ratio.
May 2016
79
