Homemade Granola? You bet.



I'm a snob. Wait, make that a snob and a half. When I was a kid, there was this one bully-type boy that used to tease me about always wearing Lacoste polo's - hey, it's not like I had a say in that and at least mine kept their color unlike his!:-P

But really, I was often accused of being a snob when I was younger. One of the reasons probably stemmed from me not getting my glasses until I was 13. I would walk by people on the street, not recognising them, because I COULDN'T SEE THEM! Yes, I'm still a bit traumatised by it - there was more than one person getting pretty huffed about the fact that I obviuosly felt so superior I couldn't even say hello. In the end, before I got the glasses, it resulted in me waving hello to a lot of people I didn't even know, just because I thought I'd recognised someone and didn't want to be accused of being a no-hello'er again.

The other thing that added to the title was one that I think a lot of teenagers are victims of - I was shy. Not in the hide-behind-mamma's-apron kinda way, but I just didn't walk up to people and started talking to them, if I didn't know them. I still don't. I'm working on it, but saying the first sentence in a conversation just isn't one of my traits. Usually, I'd wait until someone else got the ball rolling. And I wasn't the one telling big secrets or gossiping about who went out with who, and I'd rather crawl under the sink than start elaborating on myself. Really makes for a hard conversation in teenage-land, doesn't it? The fact that I got a steady boyfriend at a pretty early age added to the whole mysterious girl/snob labeling - I only very seldom attended parties with my peers and I rarely, if ever got drunk with them and did all of the fooling around they did.

I didn't have a lot of friends. I had a couple that were really, really close to me, and then there was a group of people we hung around. You know, a crowd that attended the same parties, interchanged girlfriends and boyfriends. Teenagers! I never considered them friends - acquiantences, you might call them. But for me, a friend is something very different from an acquintance. Maybe I was a snob.

Wikipedia gives the definition of snob my Mom also told me when I was younger: that it is when someone looks at someone else and think them inferior. I would never, ever, do that. I hope, and believe, I haven't ever done that, consciously. But in retrospect, I suppose not saying hello to people on the street would put you in that category. Teenagers are so fast at categorizing. But being the teenager I was, I think it was more like I felt inferior to everyone else.

But you know? I am a snob. Not in the people department, though. In the granola department? Yes, siree. I can honestly say I will look at any other granola than this with a scoff and a shrug of the shoulders - 'cause this is the one, the only. This here, is superior.

Andy's Fairfield Granola - only slightly adapted from Nigella Lawson's Feast.

I've made granola before, but the thought of putting apple sauce in the mix was entirely new to me. And I love it. It adds a sweet-sour note and gives you a totally butter-free experience - the other recipes I've used usually had butter in them. Considering this is breakfast, I like for there not to be butter (I rather want a thick smear on my roll for lunch, heh!) Also, this granola makes perfect crunchy clusters, the spices add a lovely flavor and are not over-powering at all, as I was afraid they might be and you know - just make it. There's a little snob in all of us :-)

450 g. rolled oats
60 g. sunflower seeds
120 g. sesame seeds
175 g. apple compote or apple sauce (I made my own, straining it to make it completely smooth)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
120 g. golden syrup
4 tablespoons runny honey
100 g. light brown sugar
150 g. almonds (with or without skins as you prefer), coarsely chopped
100 g. hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon Maldon salt
300 g. raisins

In a BIG bowl, mix the dry ingedients, minus the raisins, add the wet and give a good stir. That was pretty hard, huh?

Divide on to rimmed baking sheets and put in a 170 degrees celcius preheated oven. Leave for about 10 minutes, then give both sheets a good stir, maybe swapping their places in the oven. Let the granola in there for another 10 minutes, stir, swap. Keep this up for about 30-40 minutes in total, until nicely toasted and golden. Leave to cool, then mix with the raisins. Enjoy on yoghurt, tykmælk or by the handful as Nigella suggests. But enjoy, you will!

Comments

Sara said…
Oh Nigella, is there anything she can't do? I love granola and I like that this doesn't have any oil in it. Thanks for the recipe!
Monika Korngut said…
I have never made granola, I like this recipe, especially b/c it doesn't have added butter added. Thanks.
I love my butter on a warm and fresh bread.
mollyandbrandon said…
Like you, I'm a real granola snob, and wouldn't you know it - this is my favorite recipe too! Just ate it this morning, in fact. So good.
Mia said…
Oh, that sounds sooooooo good! And reminds me that I should get off my ass (metaphorically, really I just need to bust out my mad googling skillz) and find a recipe for granola bars that doesn't make me gag from the sweetness.
Cerebrum said…
Sara - I don't think so. But you know what - I haven't done that many of her savory recipes. Maybe it's time for a change?

Monika - I couldn't agree more!:-)

Molly - a little bit of granola-snobbing is in place - especially when it's this good granola!

Deinin - it is soooooooo good - and when you find that granola bar recipe, please do let me know - I have one, but they are suh-weeeeet, too. Maybe we should do a joint mission?
Anonymous said…
Love granola and this indeed sounds like a champion! :) Thanks for passing this recipe along!
Anonymous said…
I've never understood why people use oil or butter in their granola either..so no need.

great idea to use the applesauce as a sweetener
Eva said…
Thanks for that wonderful recipe - I've always wanted to make my own granola but didn't want to get the entire fat intake of the day just with eating breakfast.
And I can perfectly relate to the no-hello-ing: I refused to wear my glasses until I was 18... Furthermore, I used to stare at my feet when walking - luckily, people didn't take it too personally...;-)
Chef Jeena said…
Hi there nice blog! Your homemade granola sounds delicious for breakfast :)



visit jeena's healthy recipe blog
mathomhouse said…
Mmm, I love homemade granola. I'd forgotten about Nigella's -- thanks for reminding me! It sounds delicious!

I hear you on the glasses thing, too --
Anonymous said…
Mmm, thanks for the recipe. My college boyfriend used to make granola with several cups of vegetable oil and I wondered if there was a way to avoid this! The granola is really delicious, and I have used green pumpkinseeds and craisins for variety.
Anonymous said…
in quest for making best granola
i saw your blog
great site
great photos
oh happy day...off to buy oats
laurie
santa rosa
california
winklaur@sbcglobal.net
BossMD said…
granola is awesome. My dad made it for us as kids and the variations are endless. Easy way to remember the recipe is 7 cups of dry ingredients of which at least 3 should be oats and 1 cup of "wet ingredients" (honey, molasses, brown sugar, milk, oil, applesauce, etc.). I've never gotten a bad batch of granola from these proportions.
One of my first divine granola moments was actually in Copenhagen! For breakfast at fantastic Hotel Guldsmeden at Vesterbrogade. It contained dried blueberries which left the vanilla yogurt trickled in lovely violet.

As yourself I have got my standard favorite recipe when it comes to Granolas. I have recently amended it slightly by replacing the granulated sugar with golden syrup to go in the wet ingredients. With a very pleasing result I have to say. As if the syrup adds up to a perfect crisp and crust but still not making it too sweet. Now, apple sauce is definitely worth considering too.

My take is that there is müsli and there is granola. I think granola eaters mistakenly are seen as müsli snobs which couldn't be more wrong. And personally I trust home made granola, even with some fat added to it, is SO much more healthy and good to you than industrial baked ones which come with artificial sweeteners and flavors.

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