Fruit And Nut Granola

Fruit and Nut Granola is a healthy and delightful breakfast. Crunchy nuts, chewy fruits and aromatic spices all wake up the senses in the morning.

Let Us Clear The Term Dry Fruits/Dried Fruits

 There is a lot of confusion over this term when it comes to India or rather the Indian Sub Continent. You see there, they refer to dried fruits and nuts as dry fruits. So if you say dry fruits to them, it means all varieties of dried fruits and nuts. Some also include seeds. For the rest of the world dry fruits is fruit that is dried. And nuts is a different category.

 

Theme: Nutty Nut

As I was thinking what to make using both nuts and dried fruits, something healthy it suddenly dawned on me that I don’t have a homemade granola recipe on my blog.So homemade granola would take care of the confusion… add both nuts and fruits.

 

Memories

I was not too happy about using the quick oats but as the saying goes ‘beggars can’t be choosers’. Then on 4th Dec, my society WhatsApp group went mad with the announcement that a new supermarket Naivas has opened its doors to the public. You may wonder what’s so thrilling about a new supermarket. For the people of Mombasa especially on the island it is the biggest news ever. After the giant Nakumatt closed its doors (I hear its not because of lack of business but more to do with embezzlement!), we lacked a proper supermarket where mostly everything is available. Nakumatt had definitely spoiled us. 

My daughter and I went to check out the new supermarket. As soon as I entered the place, I thought I was in a Supermarket in Nairobi or Dubai. No seriously, its so huge and practically everything is available there. I saw jumbo oats and immediately bought some without even asking the price. Excitement knows no bounds for a Food Blogger, don’t you agree? Did I mention that the Supermarket is just opposite to my apartment complex? Hubby reckons he will have to find me there whenever I’m not at home 😉

 

Ingredients Required For Fruit And Nut Granola

Getting down to the granola recipe, I seriously never thought that it would be so easy to make it at home and here I’ve been spending so much on ready made ones where we literally can count the number of nuts and fruits added. I’m a big fan of granola especially with plain yogurt. 

Rolled Oats – look for rolled oats as opposed to instant oats. Rolled oats add a bit of texture and hold shape as opposed to instant variety. However, if you do not get rolled oats then use the instant variety but make sure you reduce the baking time. The texture also will be different.

Spice Powder/Mixtures – can add spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, or mixtures like apple pie spice mixture, pumpkin pie spice mixture, chai masala, etc.

Nuts – use only one type or a variety. I have used a mixture of nuts. Cut them into bite size, not too big or too small.

Dry Fruits – use any of your choice. Again use one type or a variety. I have used dried blueberries, cranberries, cherries and pineapple. Sometimes I add raisins, chopped figs, apricots, dried banana slices, etc.

Salt – use any type that you have. I sometimes use sea salt or pink rock salt. Salt helps to bring out the flavours of the nuts, fruits and spices.

Sweetener – use any of your choice. I prefer to use honey, maple syrup, agave. You can use brown sugar or jaggery powder too.

Butter – tends to add a lovely taste. However, you can use oil if you want to.

Vanilla Extract – helps to add a nice flavour. But can omit it. Can add other flavoured extracts or essence like strawberry, banana, butterscotch, pineapple, etc.

So here are some simple tips to making an awesome batch of granola at home. 

• Use good quality oats.
• Use fresh nuts, seeds, desiccated coconut and dried fruit.
• Add dried fruits at the end as they can get chewy or burn.
• Make an even layer in the tray of the granola so that it gets baked evenly.
• You need to add good fat. Cannot make a good granola without it.
• Remember that the granola will continue to ‘cook’ even after its out of the oven. So don’t wait till it gets extra brown.
• There are no strict rules as to how much ingredients you can add to the granola. You prefer more nuts then by all means add more. Want to add more fruits, then do so.
• Swap ingredients to make granola taste interesting and different. E.g. instead of adding pumpkin seeds, add flax seeds sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, etc.
• Add cacao nibs at the end. Add cocoa powder once it is baked.
• Don’t use too much spice powder at the beginning. Add more if required. I usually add some more after the granola is baked.
• Temperature is of the utmost importance. My first batch of granola I had made a couple of years ago got burnt as the recipe that I followed suggested baking at 180°C for 30 minutes. I like to set the temperature at 150-160°C. That way the oats don’t brown too easily and the nuts don’t get burnt.
• Use good quality sweetener.

 Lets now get to the simple recipe.

All the photos for this post have been taken by my daughter, Namrata. Check out her Instagram for some awesome photos.

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A little request:

If you do try this recipe then please either

• add a comment below,
• send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
•  tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
• or tag me on Twitter as #Mayuri1962

Sharing this recipe with the following event:

Members of this group cook fortnightly a dish according to the theme.

THEME: 58 HWCG #NUTTYNUT AT HW

Check out what members have made for the nutty nut theme:

Shahi Mega Korma/Royal Nuts Curry by Shalu

Badam Puri/ Flourless Butterless Almond Cookies by Ruchi

Salted Cashew Nuts by Jayashree

Monaco Mango Bites by Priya

Zarda Pulao by Vanitha

5 minute Pavlova Parfait with yogurt cream and dry fruits by Seema

Nutty Frutti Cookies by Rosy

Layered Fruit and Nut Raita by Geetanjali