Marmalade Granola

Choosing  breakfast cereal for our family is a real pain. One  person won’t eat weetabix and one will only eat it. Two eat porridge but only some days. Cornflakes or rice crispies  soon lose their appeal and I have to make rice crispie buns to use up the  end of the box.  Many mueslis and healthier option cereals have the taste and texture of animal feed and if they don’t there is often so much hidden sugar ( check the labels.  ) you may as well be eating super chocolate frosted sugar bombs.

One cereal  that everyone here eats however is Granola. I know its not as healthy as a plain homemade muesli  because you add oil and sweetener and then cook it, but at least people will  happily eat it as it. I get the kids to help make it which is one of the reasons they like it but the other is that its just so darn tasty.

As I’ve said Granola is basically muesli with added oil and sweetener. In this recipe I’ve used marmalade as the sweetener but you can use ,honey ,date sugar, brown sugar , maple syrup/sugar whatever you like. You  can vary the amounts and types of  fruit and nuts to suit your palate and your cupboard. This is the recipe the kids made this week.

Granola

1kg oats

1kg dry fruit( I used 750g raisins and 250g apricots )

200g  dessicated coconut

100g flaked almonds

100g sunflower seed

100g pumpkin seed

3big T linseeds

3 tablespoons sunflower oil

4 lg T marmalade

Mix the dry ingredients together then add the marmelade and then the oil. Spread  it about 2 cm deep on a baking tray .Put in the oven at about 160 degrees. Check it after 10 mins and stir it around as the granola at the sides cooks much  faster and the raisins have a tendancy to burn. Keep checking and stirring every ten mins until its light golden brown. (about 40 mins) . Let it cool completely then place in an airtight container. It lasts for weeks.

I used raisins and apricots as my dried fruit because the kids are picky but you can add your fruit of choice , figs, prunes, banana chips etc. The same goes for the nuts and seeds. Tailor it to your familys taste.

My kids eat it with milk and chopped apple.I like chopped banana or strawberries and yougurt with mine and Ive seen people eat it with apple juice so its also a great way of slipping in a bit of extra fruit into your day.