Five-seed maple granola
Makes 900g (enough for 16 bowlfuls)
Takes 10 minutes to make, 1 hour to bake, plus cooling
2 tbsp light olive oil
150ml apple juice
100ml maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
350g jumbo rolled oats
100g oat bran
50g each sesame seeds, pumpkin
seeds and sunflower seeds
25g each golden linseeds and hulled
hemp seeds
200g dried cranberries or raisins
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan140°C/gas 3 and line 1 large or 2 smaller baking tray/s with baking paper. Gently warm the oil, apple juice, maple syrup, vanilla and a pinch of salt in a small pan and stir to combine.
2. Mix the oats, oat bran and all the seeds together in a large bowl and pour the liquid mixture over. Stir well to coat thoroughly and spread the granola out on the trays.
3. Bake for 45 minutes, turning and breaking up the cereal every 10 minutes or so. Stir in the cranberries or raisins and cook for 15 minutes more. Cool, then store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
4. Serve with milk, yogurt and fruit for breakfast or eat dry as a snack.
Per bowl: 235kcals, 9.6g fat (1.4g saturated), 6g protein, 7.9g carbs, 4.8g sugar, trace salt
Try these clever variations.
Once you’ve got the knack, you can mix and match different ingredients and make this delicious trio of treats.
Black cherry and pistachio cereal bars
1. Make half the quantity of granola, as per the master recipe, but replace all of the seeds with 100g roughly chopped pistachios.
2. Bake for 45 minutes, then replace the cranberries or raisins with 150g dried black cherries and bake for a further 15 minutes. Remove from the oven (leave the oven on), cool and tip into a large bowl.
3. Mix the cooked granola with 200ml apple sauce (we like bramley apple sauce from Waitrose) and 50g ground almonds. and press into a 23cm square tin lined with baking paper.
4. Bake for a final 25-30 minutes at the same oven temperature, until pale golden. Cool completely in the tin, turn out and cut into 15 bars. These will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Makes 15.
Pear, fig and blueberry oaty crumble
1. Make half the quantity of granola, as per the master recipe, but do not bake, and make the following substitutions: replace the maple syrup with 75g soft brown sugar, substitute 40g melted butter for the olive oil, use 100g flaked almonds instead of all the seeds, add ½ tsp cinnamon in place of the vanilla extract and don’t add any cranberries or raisins.
2. Mix together 400g fresh figs, quartered, 500g peeled, cored and roughly chopped ripe pears, 300g frozen blueberries and 3 tablespoons brown sugar. Divide the fruit between 4 x 250ml or 1-litre ovenproof dishes.
3. Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan140°C/gas 3. Sprinkle over the granola topping and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until golden and crisp. Serve while warm with dollops of thick Greek yogurt. Serves 4.
Walnut granola, honey and date cake
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease and line the base of 1kg loaf tin. Make half the quantity of granola, as per the master recipe, but use 50ml mildly flavoured honey (such as acacia honey) instead of maple syrup, 100g walnuts instead of all the seeds and 100g chopped ready-to-eat dates instead of the cranberries or raisins.
2. Cream 150g softened butter with 150mlmildly flavoured honey until light in a mixing bowl. Add 3 beaten eggs, a little at a time, then sift over 400g self-raising flour with ½ tsp baking powder, 200g of the granola (store the remainder) and 200ml milk. Stir to mix well, then pour into the loaf tin and bake for 1 hour, until golden and risen. 3. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Make a simple yogurt icing: drain 200g Total 0% Greek yogurt in a sieve lined with muslin and suspended over a bowl. Leave for about 45 minutes. Put the drained yogurt in a mixing bowl and beat in 1 tbsp honey, 50g icing sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract and swirl over the cake. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts. The un-iced cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Serves 8-10.
