*Guest Post* The Best Granola Ever

Following on from her post yesterday, Rebecca Fennelly shares one of her favourite recipes with us. I used to adore Granola, then like many foods I love, I realised how bad it was for me. Most granolas you can buy in the shops may look super healthy and nutritious, but chances are that they are laced with naughty sugars and about as good for you as a shredded paper bag with some sugar coated raisins thrown in. Recently I did a bit of research into how Granola can be “cleaned up”, and came up with a recipe that incorporated what does and doesn’t suit my IBS ridden tummy’s wicked ways. The result? Delicious, if I may say so myself! I love breakfast, and so it’s great to have another option for when you want a break from eggs or porridge. What’s great about this recipe is that it also works nicely for something you can nibble on as a snack. It’s light, but still filling and so full of flavour, so you don’t need a great amount of it. The Ingredients:

• 200g flaked coconut (not desiccated – that’s too small)
• 100g ground almonds
• 40g chopped apricot
• 40g cranberry/sultana mix
• 50g mixed seeds
• 50g chopped walnuts and pecans
• 3 cooking apples
• 1 dessert spoon of coconut oil
• Small knob of unsalted butter (If you don’t want to use butter, include more coconut oil
• 1 large tsp of Cinnamon

The Method:

• Heat the oven to 140 degrees and line two baking trays
• Add together your dry ingredients – Flaked coconut, ground almonds, chopped apricots, berries, sultanas, mixed seeds and nuts – and stir carefully
• Chop your two cooking apples into small squares
• Put your coconut oil and small knob of butter on a shallow, wide pan over medium heat
• When all melted add the apple and cinnamon
• Leave in the pan, gradually stirring until the mix has sweated down to a puree
• Tip: I use a potato masher when the apples have become soft enough, which speeds up the pureeing process
• Add the puree to the dry mixture
• Scatter the mix across the two baking trays, making sure you break it all up. You can use a spoon and fork for this.
• Place the trays into the oven with at least 3 inches between the two trays and bake
• This part is a bit of a pain but totally worth it if you want to get a really nice, flavoursome and chewy consistency: Leave in the oven for about 40-50 minutes, checking every ten minutes by moving the mixture around with a spatula and swapping the trays at every check.

BIO Rebecca Fennelly originally hails from Malahide in County Dublin, but has lived and worked in London since 2010. She works in PR, and is the Brands Account Director for music publicity agency, DawBell. You can find more of her baking musings and yummy recipes on her blog, BabyGotBake.com. Follow Rebecca on Twitter at @TheBabyGotBake and @Becksit_.