I first discovered granola when I was traveling in Europe. It was one of the first times in my life that I was buying all my own food. It was so exciting to branch out of what Mum and Dad had always stocked in the pantry at home. To save money we bought a big box of what we thought was a healthy wholegrain cereal – GRANOLA. Much to my delight this cereal was sweet and crunchy and absolutely delicious. I distinctly recall waking up in a Lucerne hostel and itching to get into an enormous bowl of this breakfast of the gods! Why had my parents denied me the basic human right to granola!
A year later I started studying nutrition and was then horrified to realise that granola had sugar (oh no) and fat (heaven forbid) and was toasted (I know, shocking – I think I had my head in the sand on that one). I was lead to believe that granola wasn’t at all healthy, and I my as well have been eating mars bars covered in milk.
Now that I have done a bit more study nutrition, and have lived out of home for a decent amount of time, I have come to a much more balanced conclusion. Granola is delicious and can be part of a balanced diet, particularly when you can make it yourself. Rather than it being the sole source of fuel in the morning, putting a few of those mouth watering clusters over a high fibre muesli can boost the whole breakfast. And paired with yoghurt granola makes for an amazing snack.
Kate has created a super delicious coconut granola morsel that is the perfect post-workout snack, especially if it’s been a really hard session. Whip up a batch of this and it’ll make at least 12-15 serves. It’s delicious served with vanilla or natural greek yoghurt.
Coconut granola
Ingredients
- 3 cups oats, rolled
- ½ cup coconut, desiccated
- 2 tbsp linseeds
- 100 g honey maple syrup for vegan option
- 100 g peanut butter, 100%
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, Place oats, coconut and linseeds in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
- Measure out the peanut butter and honey into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 20 seconds.
- Remove from the microwave and stir briskly to combine until smooth.
- Pour the peanut butter and honey mixture into the oat mixture and stir until all the oats are well coated.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper and evenly spread the mixture over the tray. Bake for 15-18 minutes until just golden.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Roughly break up and crumble the granola and store in an air tight container.
