Healthy homemade granola recipe with wholegrains
Healthy homemade granola recipe with wholegrains : Healthy wholegrain crunchy nut granola recipe made with roasted spelt and rye flakes, with all the goodness of nuts, seeds and dried fruits. This homemade breakfast granola recipe is naturally sweetened using maple syrup and molasses.
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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. Topping your granola with nuts and fresh fruits does make you feel you are having healthiest of the breakfast.
Though if it’s a weekend and you are having a slow morning, try making these delicious curry masala frittatas.
With a husband rushing to office and a five year old to school, with getting her ready, lunches to pack, and breakfast to feed, and school runs 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.
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.
We have 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 i have now started making my own healthy refined sugar free whole grains granola at home.
Healthy homemade crunchy granola made using nuts and wholegrains like organic spelt flakes, rye flakes and bulgur wheat tastes really good and is very nutritious.It also gives you a lot of room to be creative and play with the flavours and ingredients of your granola.
We love homemade granola more than any other store bought brand that we 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.
This recipe is made using rye flakes, spelt flakes, and bulgur wheat.You can use oats (steel cut oats / rolled oats ) as well.
Ingredients required to make healthy homemade granola recipe
Grains
You need Organic Rye flakes, spelt flakes, and broken/ cracked bulgur wheat (known as Dalia in hindi, as we use in india).
Dalia or Daliya is broken wheat also known as bulgur or bulgur wheat.
Nuts
You would need Chopped blanched almonds and chopped hazelnuts.If you do not want to use almonds and hazelnuts you can use cashews and brazil nuts, or any nuts of your choice .
Dried fruits
For this granola recipe i have used Sultanas, dried cranberries, dried dates, and dried apricots.Again you can substitute these with the dried fruits of your choice.
Sweeteners
This is a refined sugar free granola recipe .I have used Maple syrup and molasses as sweeteners for this recipe. Maple syrup and molasses also help to bind the granola together , and you get the crunchy clustered granola.
To make this granola recipe vegan , you can avoid using molasses.
Other ingredients
Pumpkin seeds ,Cinnamon powder, vanilla extract, sea salt and oil.
Substitutes you can use to make your own granola flavours at home
You can always play with the granola 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 in your recipes.
Adding cinnamon powder and vanilla extract adds a lot of flavour to the recipe. But if you want, you can avoid adding both, or use just one of these.
As far as seeds go, i just added pumpkin seeds. You can add flaxseeds, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds,sunflower seeds, sesame seeds. These are just a few options. Let me know in comments if you like to add any other seeds.
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.
Tips to make extra Clumpy granola
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-
- Take a smaller tray, or make big batch. Either way make sure the mixture is crowded in the tray , so that it sticks while cooking.
- When you add the mixture to the parchment paper the first time, just lightly press it with the back of the spoon.
- Once you take out the mixture in between to add the dried fruits, once you have mixed the dried fruits, again press the mix with the back of the spoon, to make sure the grains are close enough to stick.
- When the granola is cooked, and you take it out of the oven, let it rest for a good 4-5 hours till it is completely cooled off.I leave it overnight.
- Once cool, lightly crush the granola using fingers, and transfer it to an airtight jar.
- Keep in the fridge if living in warmer temperature. It will stay fresh longer.
Making Homemade crunchy nut breakfast granola
In a pan mix all the dry grains- Organic spelt flakes, rye flakes, and dalia/ 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 clumps, 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 pumpkin seeds, 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.
Tips and tricks to make that perfect crunchy granola at home
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.
Add ground flax seeds to make your granola mix more nutritious and crunchy.
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 or a healthy in between meals snack as well.
Storing homemade granola
Homemade granola is best stored in airtight containers, preferable in an airtight glass jar.
You can also save it in a ziplock bag and keep it in refrigerator.
It stays good for 10-12 days.
How to serve Granola ?
You can have your perfect homemade granola as your breakfast . You can also top your yoghurt, ice creams, or smoothies with granola.
Add it to your cakes, cookies and muffins.
How about some cherry jam toast with your acai granola bowl ?
Store it in a small glass jar and keep it on your work desk or office to have it as a healthy granola snack to munch.
How do you like to have your granola. Leave your creative suggestions in the comment section below. I would love to know.
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Homemade Granola recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Organic rye flakes
- 1 cup Organic Spelt flakes
- 1/2 cup dalia/ Bulghur wheat
- 1/2 cup mixed chopped nuts blanched almonds, and hazel nuts
- 7-8 dried chopped dates
- 1/2 cup dried fruits a mix of dried apricots, cranberries
- 1-2 tbsp raisins/ sulatanas
- 2 tbsp Pumpkin seeds Or use sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup oil use coconut oil or olive oil
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tbsp molasses
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- a pinch sea salt
- 1 tsp cinammon powder
Instructions
- In a pan mix all the dry grains- spelt flakes, rye flakes, and dalia/ Bulghur wheat. Dalia or Daliya is broken wheat also known as bulgur or bulghur wheat
- Add in the chopped almonds, hazel nuts, cinammon 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, seeds 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.
It looks and sounds delicious! In fact makes me want to have Granola for my breakfast. There are a lot of ingredients involved but I’m sure once you have bought them in they will make multiple batches. Think I will give this a try!
Hi Elaine
Thanks so much. Im sure you are going to love homemade granola once you start making and having it. As for ingredients, you can replace most of these, with the ingredients that you already have. Check out the “Getting creative with ingredients ” section in the post, where i have suggested options that can be used, and ingredients that can be omitted. Theres a lot of scope here to play with the ingredients.
Thanks
This homemade granola recipe is a must try with your loved ones. This article would be a huge help. Thanks for sharing this one out.