I tried to cook granola
Why granola ? But first what is granola ?
According to healthline.com granola was created by James Caleb Jackson an American physician. It is made by mixing ingredients like oat flakes, nuts, seeds, oils, and dried fruits and bake them to obtain a crunchy biscuit texture. Some ingredients like dried fruits, seeds or chocolate pieces are usually added after baking. Granola can be eaten with milk, yogurt, vegan drinks or simply as is. Can be a healthy option and it is loved by children (if you use some of their favourite ingredients).
Basically for a good quality granola you need good quality oat flakes (organic if possible), good quality nuts and/or oils and a good quality healthier sweetener like dried fruits, honey, maple syrup, stevia or so. Remember that the quality of the ingredients will determine the quality of granola. I tried a simple granola with almonds and cashews sweetened with dates.
INGREDIENTS
Oat flakes 400 g
Almonds 40 g
Cashew 50 g
Dates 100 g
Bio coconut rice drink 400 ml
Cocoa powder 10-15 g
Pumpkin seeds 10-16 g
Dried blueberries 25-30 g
These are the ingredients I used but feel free to experiment with your favourite ones. Let’s start. First preheat the oven at 180 C with ventilation.
First the oat flakes. I used regular size ones but I processed in the blender about half of them for a finer texture and put them in a large bowl (to have room for mixing). You can use any type of oat flakes you prefer. I mixed in a blender the almonds, cashews, dates, cocoa powder and the rice drink until I reached a smoothie consistency. I added this liquid mix over the oat flakes and mixed them together until completely combined then I transferred the composition to a baking tray on a sheet of baking paper. The composition is pretty sticky so be careful when you transfer it to the baking tray. Press it with your hands or a spoon and check it to be uniform distributed and then cut it into rectangles ( having the granola cut in pieces will help you when you smash it and put it in a jar ).
Bake the granola 30 min at 180 C with ventilation then turn it on the other side and bake it for another 30 min at 180 C with ventilation. After you turn the heat off open slightly the oven door and let the granola in the warm oven an hour or two to dehydrate more.
After dehydrating and cooling smash the granola in desired size pieces, mix it with the pumpkin seeds and dries blueberries and keep it in a sealed container or jar.
Feel free to experiment with the quantities with the dried fruits and with the seeds. And for the surprise of your kids add chocolate pieces or flakes. Enjoy :)
