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I love having cereals in the mornings with milk.As a kid it was always cornflakes, later it was sometimes porridge, sometimes museli, and all the other variations of cereals that i could lay my hands off in the breakfast aisles. Of late i have been hooked to granola. As healthy as these options might sound, the store bought ones are NOT healthy. There’s a whole lot of added sugars or sugar variants and preservatives in these. But yes, this is the easiest and most convenient of the breakfast ‘s you can have when you have busy mornings, and hell .. topping these with nuts, and fresh fruits does make you feel you are having healthiest of the breakfast.
Even though i’m not rushing to the office, but with rushing a husband to office and a five year old to school, with getting her ready, and not to miss her hairstyles to make(which i’m really really bad at doing) , lunches to pack, and breakfast to feed, my mornings are always very chaotic. At the most, i can grab a banana or have cereals with milk/ yoghurt as the next best healthy option.And these days i’m onto granola. I always thought its called granola because it is a mix of grains, but there a whole lot to the history of granola, which you can find here, if you like me are curious to know why is it exactly called granola.
I am having granola like almost every alternate day for breakfast. As convenient as it gets, just pouring it out of a packet and adding milk, and fruits, but not knowing what exactly is in there in that packet, does make me jittery at times. So if i was having it everyday, i decided to try and start making granola at Home.
The result of homemade granola has been so good, and there’s so much area to be creative and play with the flavours and ingredients, that i’m loving my homemade granola more than any other brand that i have ever tried and loved. Though granola is usually a mix of rolled oats, nuts, dried fruits and sweeteners, this one has no oats in it. Still it is sooooo good. This recipe is made using rye flakes, spelt flakes, and bulgur wheat.You can use oats as well. As i mentioned earlier , you just need to know the technique, the ingredients will all fall into place.
Rye flakes, spelt flakes, and bulgur wheat (Dalia as we use in india).
Chopped blanched almonds and chopped hazelnuts.
Sultanas, dried cranberries, dried dates, and dried apricots.
Maple syrup, and molasses.
Sunflower seeds ,Cinnamon powder, vanilla extract, sea salt and oil
You can always play with the ingredients as per your taste and preference. Use just old fashioned rolled oats in place of spelt and rye flakes, or use a mix of oats with these. You can even make a mix of grains and add quinoa as well.
For the nuts , in this recipe i have used blanched almonds and hazelnuts. You can use almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts, or whatever nuts you prefer. I chopped them because i prefer small bites of nuts, you can use whole nuts.
Adding oil is important, because that helps make the grains crispy, and helps maintain the crunch. A great option is using coconut oil, or you may use any other oil that you like. I have used olive oil in these.
Maple syrup is a perfect sweetening option .Though along with maple syrup, i have added a tbsp of molasses, that add a little more sweetness, and act as a perfect binding agent for the grains, as i wanted my granola to have more clumps. Did you know molasses are a great alternative to sugar. Though high in carbohydrates, these have more nutritional value than sugar, and have loads of benefits. Read here to check out benefits of using molasses .
Adding cinnamon powder and vanilla extract is optional. But these two ingredients add so much flavour to the recipe, so i dare not remove these from my recipe. But if you do want, you can avoid adding both, or use just one of these.
As far as seeds go, i just added sunflower seeds. You can add flaxseeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds. These are just a few options. Let me know in comments if you like to add any other seeds.
Lastly adding a pinch of sea salt, or kosher salt, enhances the flavour and brings out the taste of all the ingredients that you add, so i would strongly suggest, do not skip adding salt. If you do not have sea salt, just add a pinch of regular table salt.
I love big clumps in my granola. So i made sure the granola that i make at home, has big clumps. If you want clumps in your granola follow below-
In a pan mix all the dry grains- spelt flakes, rye flakes, and dalia/ Bulgur wheat. Dalia or Daliya is broken wheat also known as bulgur or bulgur wheat.Add in the chopped almonds, hazel nuts, cinnamon powder.Mix everything together.
In a separate pan mix the oil, maple syrup, molasses ,vanilla extract.Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.Do not add dry fruits at this point.Spread the mixture evenly on a parchment paper, in a baking tray. If you want clumps keep the mixture crowded. If you do not want lumps, spread the mixture well.
Heat it in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes.take these out after 10 minutes, and now add the raisins/ sultanans , chopped apricots, cranberries and chopped dates. Mix these with the help of a spoon. If you want the granola to have thick clumps press the whole mixture with the back of a spoon, so that it sticks together.
Now put it back in the oven and heat for another 8-10 minutes. It might still look wet, but do not overheat it , as that may burn the granola.
Take the tray out, cover it with a muslin cloth and let it dry in air for about good 5-6 hours. I kept it overnight. Once it is cool, the mixture will be dry. You can just crush it with fingers, and store it in an airtight container.
I prefer my nuts roasted, hence i added these in the beginning along with the grains, so that the nuts also get a nice toasted flavour. If you want, you can add the nuts and dried fruits later when about 5 minutes are left for baking. Doing this will ensure that the nuts have a little sweetness, plus these are not toasted.
Adding dried fruits and seeds in the beginning , might burn them , so add the dried fruits and seeds in the last ten minutes, or mix them later in the cooked granola.
Now that you are perfect in making home made granola, why to restrict it only to your morning routines. You can have it as a dessert. Top your yoghurts, ice creams, or smoothies with granola. Add it to your cakes, and muffins. I hand out a small box of granola to my husband, to keep in his office, so that he can have it as a snack to munch, or just add it his yoghurt, and fruits as a topping.
How would you like to have your granola. Leave your creative suggestions in the comment section below. I would love to know.
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