A Plethora of Granola!

Ok, well, I've decided I can "blog as I learn" regarding this camera. For some reason these pictures look much better on my computer than when inserted into blogger...I'll look into why later, for now here's a few happy and healthy granola recipes for you :-)

If you read the daily blog you'll know that I really overdid it over the holidays, have put on a bit of weight and am trying to eat lighter and healthier. Both these recipes fit the bill perfectly and are so easy to make. They are based on my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Granola recipe but are even easier as these ones use maple syrup instead of requiring you to make brown sugar syrup first. Further like that recipe none of these are overly sweet which is nice as you can add a bit of chocolate, guilt free ;-)

I should explain to UK/IRE viewers that Almond Joy is an American chocolate bar - just think of a Bounty Bar with almonds and I was inspired by that here. It's a simple maple sweetened granola with toasted coconut, toasted flaked almonds and dark chocolate chips. Absolutely lovely and goes perfectly with some ice cold coconut milk (the tetra pak kind like Kara brand, not the tins) and sliced bananas on top.

Almond Joy Granola

• 300g oats ( 2 3/4 cups)

• 150ml maple syrup (2/3 cups)

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 Tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

• 50g desiccated coconut (2/3 cups) can be sweetened or unsweetened

• 50g flaked almonds (1/2 cup)

• 80g vegan chocolate chips (1/2 cup)

Preheat the oven to 150C / 300F. In a small saucepan heat the maple syrup and coconut oil until the oil melts. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Add the oats to a large bowl and pour over the syrup. Stir well until everything is well coated. Spread out on a large or 2 med/small baking sheets lined with baking paper and bake for 15 minutes. Give it a good stir then pop it back in the oven for 10 minutes. Tip it back in a bowl then add the coconut and almonds, stir well, spread it back onto the baking sheet and pop it back in the oven for 5 minutes. Stir then return to the oven for a final 5 minutes. Let cool fully then stir in the chocolate chips. Store in a ziplock bag or airtight container.

I used these Belgian chocolate drops in mine as they were a cute little button shape and appear to be vegan BUT I don't actually recommend them. They just don't taste that great. I can see them being perfect for decorating with but you want a really good tasting chocolate in this so use a dark chocolate bar that you really like and chop that up or use chips you know you like :-)

Nutritional Information: based on a 1/2 cup (60g) serving, using unsweetened coconut, no banana or milk.

Calories: 293
Protein: 7.2g
Fat: 13.6g
Sat Fat: 7.6g
Fibre: 5.3g
Carbs: 37.5g
Sugar: 13.6g
Sodium: 4.1mg
Calcium: 42mg (162mg with fortified dairy free milk)

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Furthermore, I made a ridiculously simple Maple Cinnamon Blueberry Granola. Simple, but delicious. I often find a lot of granola out there has way too much going on. Like manufactures have tried to jam in every nut, seed and dried fruit there is in them. I prefer to keep things simple making sure the flavours compliment each other. Maple, cinnamon and blueberry are 3 flavours I love together, especially with oats, that being said some almonds would also go great in this. I prefer this one with rice milk.

Maple Cinnamon Blueberry Granola

• 300g oats (2 3/4 cups)

• 150ml maple syrup (2/3 cups)

• 2 Tbsp vegan butter

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• fresh blueberries to serve.

Preheat the oven to 150C / 300F. Heat the maple syrup and butter in a small saucepan until the butter melts. In a large bowl mix together the oats and cinnamon. Pour over the syrup and stir well until well coated. Spread out onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake for 15 minutes. Stir then bake for another 15 minutes. Stir and if it feels like it needs it bake for another 5 minutes (I usually do) it should be getting lightly golden brown and feel crisp. Let cool and store in either a ziplock bag or an airtight container. Serve with your favourite dairy free milk, I love rice milk with this one, or some soy yogurt and fresh blueberries.

Nutritional Information: based on a 1/2 cup (60g) serving with blueberries but no milk.

Calories: 283

Protein: 6.4g

Fat: 5.8g

Sat Fat: 1.1g

Fibre: 6g

Carbs: 53.1g

Sugar: 18.2g

Sodium: 32.8mg

Calcium: 50.6mg (168mg with 100ml fortified rice milk)

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Lastly, I made this Raspberry Almond White chocolate Granola as I love those 3 flavours together. Like the previous granola's this isn't overly sweet either so don't fret about adding a little bit of chocolate to it. I've gone for vegan white chocolate buttons here snapped in half but dark chocolate chips would equally go nicely here, and of course, it's still good without the added chocolate! You could also use dried raspberries here, I just preferred the texture of soft fresh raspberries against the crispy granola. Also, this one goes perfectly with almond milk :-)

Raspberry Almond White Chocolate Granola

• 300g oats ( 2 3/4 cups)

• 150ml maple syrup (2/3 cups)

• 2 Tbsp vegan butter

• 1/2 tsp almond extract

• 50g flaked almonds (1/2 cup)

• 80g white chocolate, buttons snapped in half or a bar chopped (1/2 cup)

• fresh raspberries to serve.

Preheat the oven to 150C / 300F. In a small saucepan heat the maple syrup and vegan butter until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract. Add the oats to a large bowl and pour over the syrup. Stir well until everything is well coated. 

Spread out on a large or 2 med/small baking sheets lined with baking paper and bake for 15 minutes. Give it a good stir then pop it back in the oven for 10 minutes. Tip it back in a bowl then add the almond flakes, stir well, spread it back onto the baking sheet and pop it back in the oven for 5 minutes. Stir then return to the oven for a final 5 minutes. Let cool fully then stir in the white chocolate chip. Store in a ziplock bag or airtight container. Serve with fresh raspberries and ice cold almond milk.

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Nutritional Information: based on 1/2 cup (60g) serving with raspberries but no milk. 

Calories: 305

Protein: 7.9g

Fibre: 7.5g

Carbs: 46.6g

Sugar: 17.5g

Fat: 10.6g

Sat Fat: 2.8g

Sodium: 24.8mg

Calcium: 55.2mg

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