Granola love.

Since committing to going gluten-free in 2016 (you can read why here), i’ve had a grain free granola on my kitchen radar.  I like to use it as a sprinkle on my fruit salad and smoothies, and it works equally well as a muffin topping, as a crust for your fruit crumble, or as a little crunchy boost to your breakfast pancakes…the list goes on really.  You can even eat it on its own, as a snack – it’s pretty versatile!

I was a bit worried that a grain free version would lose some of that decadent mouth feel that regular granola has, but rest easy folks – after a little tweaking, this one turned out perfectly.  I had it this morning with sliced peach, banana and plain greek yoghurt for breakfast, and it was HEAVEN.  I also used it on my delicious dinner smoothie, which you can find here…seriously, I think you should make some.  STAT.

Grain Free Apple Pie Granola

Adapted from The Balanced Berry

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 1 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup linseeds (aka flaxseeds)
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 2-3 small green or red apples, cored & quartered
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 cup maple syrup, agave or organic coconut nectar
• 2 tbs coconut oil, melted
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp mace
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• Dash of sea salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C and line 1-2 baking sheets with parchment paper (you want the mix to sit no more than 1cm thick, so adjust the amount of sheets you’ll need to accommodate this).
2. In a food processor, pulse the almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds and linseeds (flaxseeds) until roughly chopped.  Transfer to a large bowl.
3. Throw the apple into the same food processor bowl (don’t bother cleaning it) and process until it’s similar to a coarsely grated texture – don’t overdo it.  Pop this into the same bowl with the seeds.
4. Add all of the remaining ingredients and stir until well combined.
5. Transfer to the baking sheet and bake for 35-40 mins, stirring granola every 10 minutes or so.
6. Allow to cool completely to crisp up.  Store in a sealed container in the freezer to keep fresh & crunchy.

Notes

• I have a notoriously slow oven, so everything seems to take twice as long to cook…consequently I have to keep a very close eye on things as they come up to time!  I found this wasn’t enough cooking time for me – after cooling the mix thoroughly, I still found it a bit soft.  So I transferred it back to the pans, and left it on a low (120c) oven with the door ajar for about an hour (I just stuck a wooden spoon in it to keep it in place) and it came out perfectly.  I think this is one you’ll need to judge for yourself depending on the speed of your oven, so just keep an eye on it and you’ll know when it’s done.  I would not use the fan with this receipe – nuts are quick to burn, so slow & steady does it with this one.
• When I transferred the mix back to the oven for the second drying, I drizzled about 1 tbs of agave over each pan, just for a bit of an extra sweet hit.  Because that’s the way I roll!  I would definitely do this again – this isn’t an overly sweet mix as it is, so the little bursts of it as you eat it are lovely.
• On that note, and simply because I didn’t have enough of any one sweetener, I used a combo of maple syrup, agave and organic coconut syrup, and it turned out fine 🙂