Sunday 22 January 2012

Spicy granola

When running my eye down the side of cereal boxes, my vocabulary expands with an array of questionably pronounceable ingredients. The helpful danger signs were already on the fronts of course, all packed full of sugar and salts. For those that market themselves as 'healthy', once you look beyond the chocolate coated calcium, I'm sure the net nutritional gain isn't all it's cracked up to be.

So, inspired to create my own breakfast alternative, where I controlled the content, for a reasonable price, I came up with this, my spicy granola.

Begin by adding 400 grams of large oats into a baking tray. Sprinkle on top a layer of mixed toasted seeds (20 grams)  and a dusting of cinnamon, grated nutmeg and crystalized ginger. Next, cover the mix with diagonally drizzled honey one way, and maple syrup the other (note, the diagonal is purely for aesthetics, smiley faces are also acceptable). For the final twist, dot on a few even blobs of marmalade. This cuts through all the natural sweet with some sharpness, which will make the front of your tongue dance with pleasure on every bite. The best marmalade for the job is Bettys marmalade - we have a contraband whiskey infused jar, a present I always look forward to from my partner's mumbie.




Mix together all the ingredients evenly, give the tray a quick shake to roughly level - "top tip" don't compact the mix, unless you want to make these into bars (which would be a great idea, I'll have to try that) - and bake on the middle shelf at 180 (gas mark 5). After 15 minutes, turn the oven off (save the planet) and leave for a further five minutes, until lightly crisp and golden.

Enjoy your granola with a splash of milk or for a truly delicious dessert, sprinkle it on top of some mixed berries that have been cooked with butter and sugar in a pan, and top with warm custard. Heavenly.




3 comments:

  1. Spoono, we have been told that you make the Best Pizza Ever. A great way to ingratiate yourself with your work colleagues would be to make loads and share it around the office.
    Yours, NDubz

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    Replies
    1. Dear NDubz,

      Thank you for your comment, and I did indeed enjoy one of the best pizza's I've ever made from scratch last night. I'll blog the recipe next week so you too can share with your work colleagues!

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    2. I look forward to reading the recipe. I'll make pizza for the whole of the first floor. I promise!

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