Date Molasses and Olive Oil Granola
Granola is one of those things that is far easier to make than perhaps people realise. This recipe can be used as a template, so customise it to your liking, or whatever is in your cupboard, by using different nuts, seeds and spices. Date molasses is used instead of honey or maple syrup and imparts a caramel like sweetness and turns the granola an inviting, deep golden-brown colour. By happy coincidence it also makes it vegan friendly, so is the perfect accompaniment to Coconut Collaborative’s coconut yoghurt.
Ingredients
8 Cardamom pods
300g Jumbo oats
120g Mixed nuts – we used almonds, pecans and hazelnuts
120g Mixed seeds – we used pumpkin and sesame seeds and our Kasha, which is toasted buckwheat.
2 tsp Ground cinnamon
½ tsp Ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
140g Date Molasses
140g Early Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil
To serve:
Coconut Collaborative Yoghurt
Fresh seasonal fruit
Extra date molasses to drizzle over the top
Instructions
- Set your oven to 150C fan/170C non-fan.
- Use a pestle and mortar or the end of a rolling pin and a bowl to crush the cardamom pods to release the seeds. Discard the outer part then crush the seeds to a fine powder and add to a large mixing bowl.
- In the same large mixing bowl, combine the oats, nuts, seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Mix all the dry ingredients together.
- In another bowl, mix the date molasses and the olive oil together, then add this to the large mixing bowl and stir all the ingredients together so that the oats, nuts and seeds are fully coated.
- Line 2 baking trays with baking paper, you might be able to get it onto 1 very large tray but baking it in a thin layer helps it to cook more quickly, and spread the granola in even layers. Place in the oven and bake for around 15 minutes then take out, stir the granola thoroughly then place back in the oven, ensuring the tray that was higher in the oven is now lower, and vice versa. Bake for another 15 minutes then take out and move the granola around. It should new be starting to turn a deep golden brown and start to feel dry. If it still feels a little damp that’s fine, as it will crisp up as it cools. If it looks a little pale, then give it another 10 minutes. You can also bake it for longer later on, once it’s cooled, if you think it needs it.
- To serve the granola, spoon some of the coconut yoghurt into a bowl, top with granola and chopped fresh fruit and finish with a little more date molasses. When cooked and cooled, store it in an airtight container for up to a month.
Included in this Recipe
Roasted Buckwheat Kasha
Roasted 'pseudograin' seed with a hearty flavour, slightly nutty and a little smokey
Date Molasses
Smooth, 100% Medjool date molasses
Early Harvest Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Single varietal, stone crushed, cold extracted, Extra Virgin Olive Oil made from the first Arbequina olives of the season.