A winter version of my no added sugar granola is sure to please in the cold weather; warming cinnamon is paired with sweet apples making for the perfect pick-me-up for dark mornings.
Cinnamon is a spice containing lots of polyphenols, a type of plant chemical which is thought to be beneficial to health. In total, this granola is packed full of 16 different plant foods, providing you with just over half of your weekly diversity goal in just the granola on its own.
If you don’t have all the specific ingredients, try swapping them to maintain fibre diversity. You could use alternative grains to those listed, or use different nuts which can change the healthy fat profile of this granola.
Makes 16 servings
Ingredients
100g stoned dates
150g oats
50g barley flakes
50g rye flakes
50g spelt flakes
15g ground sweet cinnamon
75 mixed seeds (I have used 15g each of chia, linseed, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds)
80g almonds, roughly chopped
50g unsweetened desiccated coconut
50g extra virgin olive oil
30g coconut flakes
70g dried unsweetened apple
70g sultanas
Method
Preheat the oven to 120°C fan/ 130°C convection
Soak the dates in 150ml boiling water for a few minutes before blending into a smooth paste.
Meanwhile, mix the cereal flakes, cinnamon, seeds, almonds and coconut together.
Add the date puree and mix everything together.
Pour the oil in, mix, and then spread out onto a tray.
Bake for 90 minutes, stirring at minutes 30, 50 and 70.
Add the coconut flakes in for the last 20 minutes, before removing and allowing to cool.
Mix in the dried fruit and store in an airtight container.
Per 50g serving: 196kcal/ 6.4g fat/ 3.3g saturated fat/ 22.3g carbohydrates/ 5.8g fibre/ 5.4g protein
Granola doesn’t last long in my house. Whenever I make a tray, it will be gone within a few days. Seriously. It’s such a delicious way to get a variety of plant-based foods into the diet. In fact, the below recipe contains 15 plant-based foods, that’s half of your weekly recommended target. So this granola is really a winner!
In addition, each portion of granola contains 5.7g fibre. It also had another bonus of no added sugar. Instead, I used dates and blend them with hot water to create a sweet puree which helps the clusters form together. This also means it’s not overly sweet and feels much lighter than other generic granolas.
Using a variety of different cereal flakes also helps increase diversity; these are widely available at your local supermarket or health food shop. I’ve used jumbo oats with some rye, spelt and barley flakes which help increase the fibre content as well as the diversity of my weekly plant food intakes.
I’ve have used freeze-dried fruits in this granola. This means that they have been dried under cold conditions which are thought to help maximise the retention of heat-sensitive nutrients such as vitamin C, some B vitamins as well as phytochemicals and antioxidants. If you don’t have these to hand you can use other dried fruits such as raisins or apricots, or try adding some dehydrated vegetables for an extra fibre kick.
Makes 15 servings
Ingredients
100g pitted dates
150g oats
50g rye flakes
50g barley flakes
50g spelt flakes
50g desiccated coconut
75g mixed seeds (chia, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, and linseed)
80g almonds, roughly chopped
50ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
40g coconut chips
35g freeze-dried raspberries
35g freeze-dried blueberries
Pour in the EVOO
Mix
Pour onto a baking tray
Press down to help for clusters
Method
Preheat the oven to 120°C Fan/130°C convection or Gas Mark 1/2.
Pour 150ml boiling water onto the dates and allow them to soak.
Meanwhile, mix all the oats, flakes, desiccated coconut, seeds, and nuts in a bowl.
Using a hand blender or a food processor, blend the dates in the water to a puree. Empty into the dry ingredients and mix.
Add the EVOO and mix together. Pour onto a large baking tray and, using the back of a spoon, press the granola down to form clumps.
Cook in the oven for 90 minutes in total, gently turning the granola at 30, 50, and 70 minutes.
At 70 minutes add the coconut flakes to the mixture before cooking for the final 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully before adding in the freeze-dried raspberries and blueberries and storing in an airtight container.
Per 50g serving: 206kcal/ 7.8g fat/ 4.4g saturated fat/ 21.3g carbohydrates/ 5.7g fibre/ 5.7g protein
Granola is king in our house. We eat loads of it for breakfast, as a quick snack and sometimes even as a substitute for pudding! But shop bought granola sometimes isn’t the healthiest breakfast cereal to turn to. Often it is high in sugar, loaded with fats and has a few basic ingredients in it such as oats and sweetened dried fruits. Additionally, so many brands put 0.5% hazelnuts into the mix (why?!?!) which renders me out of the equation due to a nut allergy.
Homemade granola means I can add what I want
So I endeavoured to make my own range, which is either reduced or no added sugar, uses healthy fats, has a diverse range of fibre sources, uses unsweetened fruit wherever possible, and only has ingredients in there that I can eat, so feel free to swap anything out to fit in with your dietary requirements.
I developed this particular recipe for my chocoholic sister-in-law who loves sweet treats. Although not a sugar free granola, it’s definitely not as sweet as the generic shop bought granola, and packs in much more nutritious value, and as a bonus is also vegan!
I hope you enjoy making this recipe. Feel free to alter the fruits used, add alternative nuts if you aren’t allergic, or even change the chocolate if you’re not looking to make a vegan granola (I’m thinking white chocolate and raspberry!!!).
Making this granola is really easy, but takes a little time. Adding water and maple syrup allows some of the starch in the oats to come out and helps make clusters traditionally achieved by using high sugar and harder fats such as palm oil. Sometimes I even let the wet oats sit before adding in further ingredients so that the clusters really form. Then I add the fat: extra virgin olive oil! Packed full of polyphenols and phytochemicals which have been shown to be beneficial for heart, brain and even gut health.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
You can use whatever seeds you have to hand, but try to get a good variety in there. This recipe will help you achieve 10 of your 30 different plant foods for the week, which we know is beneficial to overall health. I also hand chop whole almonds so that you get really large chunks of the nuts. This gives a really nice crunch, but we also know from research on almond consumption, eating roasted chopped almonds can increase some strains of butyrate-producing gut bacteria, which is thought to be beneficial for health. Additionally, in a recent review of studies investigating almond consumption, there were beneficial outcomes on cardiometabolic markers such as lowering total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels in comparison to non-almond consuming groups.
Roughly chop the almonds to keep them in large chunks
Finally, a slow bake means you get lovely crunchy granola, I tried to speed things up in one of my recipe testing sessions. Sadly you get a slightly burnt toasted flavour which wasn’t to my liking, but some of my testers did actually enjoy they taste!
I love this granola with either dairy free milk, or a dairy free yoghurt such as a coconut yoghurt – just make sure you check the nutritional information to make sure it isn’t loaded with hidden sugar! Check out my previous post for a recent UK publication looking at the sugar reduction in yoghurts over the past few years.
Delicious served with creamy coconut yoghurt and fresh cherries
Recipe
150g rolled oats
150g jumbo oats
30g cocoa powder
50g desiccated coconut
25g chia seeds
25g pumpkin seeds
25g sunflower seeds
25g linseeds (flax)
50g maple syrup
80g almonds, roughly chopped
60g extra virgin olive oil
50g coconut flakes
90g dried cherries
100g dark chocolate chips of choice
Granola ingredients
Method
Preheat the oven to 130°C/125°C Fan/ 1⁄2 GM
Add the oats, cocoa powder, desiccated coconut, almonds, seeds, maple syrup and water to a large bowl and mix together. Let large clumps form.
Add the olive oil and mix
Spread out onto a tray, pushing the mixture down to help form more clumps
Bake in the oven for 90 minutes, gently turning the mixture at 30, 50, and 70 minutes
Add the coconut flakes to the tray at 70 minutes to gently toast for the last 20 minutes
After 90 minutes of cooking, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely
Add the cherries and chocolate to the granola and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks
Cherry, chocolate and coconut granola
Per 50g serving 226kcal/ 10g fat/ 5.4g saturated fat/ 21.3g carbohydrates/ 4.7g fibre/ 5.8g protein
Dr Pippa 