A Granola from the Touraine

Making your own granola (toasted muesli) is easy and means that you can control the ingredients, adjusting for personal taste, and for health considerations. No more horrible banana chips or sickly bits of nasty indeterminate tropical fruit. Also the potential for lower fat, sugar and salt content than the supermarket choices.

My idea with this particular mix was that it could all be sourced locally (or at a pinch, only a few hours away). It features the grains, seeds, nuts and fruits commonly grown in the Touraine, and so I can feel doubly righteous when consuming it. The cereals, nuts and seeds are suggestions only and can be used in any proportions you fancy or have to hand.

The 'raw' granola.

Ingredients:
5 cups cereal grain flakes (rolled oats, barley, wheat)
5 cups seeds and/or nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, flax/linseed)
½ cup light brown sugar (vergeoise blonde) - optional
1 tsp sea salt - optional
1 cup unsweetened fruit purée (I used apple)
½ cup homemade candied fruit with syrup or fruit jelly (I used candied cherries)
¼ cup honey (choose a mild flavoured one like Acacia)
2 tbsp oil (walnut, hazelnut, sunflower, colza/canola/rapeseed, flax/linseed, hemp, grapeseed)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
2. Mix together the dry ingredients.
3. Gently warm the fruit purée, candied fruit or jelly, honey and oil (2 minutes on low power in the microwave is good).
4. Thoroughly mix the resulting syrup into the dry ingredients.
5. Divide the mixture onto two baking trays and spread out thinly and evenly.
6. Bake for about 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until the granola is golden brown.
7. Remove from the oven and cool.

This makes about 1kg of granola, or enough to fill a 2l container.

All toasty and golden.

If you want to add an exotic touch you can add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a teaspoon of ground ginger to the dried ingredients.

Susan