Spiced Vanilla Granola 🥣

So versatile, so crunchy and you can literally eat it at any time of the day as a snack or breakfast!

Serves: 6 cups of granola

Difficulty: Level 1

Wow factor: ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐⭐

Ingredients

• 3 cups rolled or jumbo oats (don't use quick-cooking oats or instant oats as the results will be dusty granola)

• 1/2 cup honey (or sweetener of your choice)

• 1/2 cup coconut oil (or canola oil / other flavourless oil of your choice)

• 1/2tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/4tsp ground cloves

• 1/2tsp vanilla bean paste

• 1/2 cup whole almonds

• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

• 1/2 cup puffed rice

• 1/3 cup milled flaxseed

• Fine sea salt

Optional toppings

• 1/2 cup goji berries (or other dried fruits of your choice)

• 1/3 cup cacao nibs

Instructions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 165 degrees celsius and line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. In a small saucepan, heat your honey, coconut oil, vanilla paste, and spices over a low heat. Just keep mixing as it is heating up and ensure there are no spice clumps.

3. In a large bowl, tip your oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, puffed rice, and milled flaxseed.

4. Once the ingredients in the saucepan are incorporated nicely, pour this all over your large bowl. Use a spatula to mix well.

5. Now transfer the mix onto the baking tray you have prepared. Sprinkle some salt (around 1/2 tsp is what I added) and if you want delicious clumpy granola, use the spatula to press the granola down so the ingredients all stick together.

6. Bake in the oven, middle rack, for 20 minutes in total. You will need to take it out at half-time (after 10 mins) to stir and turn over the granola so all sides are baked nicely. If using cacao nibs, this is also the time to add them. Once you have done this, pop them back in the oven for the remaining 10 mins. Make sure this doesn't burn. If your oven is too hot, just turn down the heat.

7. Now that it is ready, take it out of the oven and add your goji berries / dried fruit. We don't add them during baking as they will burn and taste bitter.

8. Now using a spatula or the back of your cup measurer, press the granola down again to create maximum clumps. If you like the clumps and want to keep them clumpy, let the granola cool for around 30 minutes before moving into a jar or eating.

Hot tip: for storage, keep in an airtight container for up to a month. Pop this in the fridge too if you'd like to ensure it stays fresh for as long as possible, though I doubt it will last long as it's so damn tasty.

Enjoy with milk, yoghurt, ice cream, smoothies, or even as a crunchy addition to cakes or pancakes!