Gluten Free Granola

I have discussed giving up wheat before, but this granola is gluten free by accident.  I was looking to make something that was going to fill me up until lunch time (not always possible from a breakfast on the go – I’m really an “eggs, toast, avocado and sides” girl at heart, even at 6am) and experimented with nuts in the hope that their high protein content would keep me going for the entire morning.  Like the porridge bread recipe, this is very simple and pretty hard to mess up – although chopping the nuts makes for a noisy preparation, so maybe no midnight baking with this one.

Makes 2 baking trays worth/3-4 jars depending on size:

• A large bowl of a selection of nuts: brazil, pecan, walnuts, almonds, cashews (Lidl is great for cheap bags of them)
• Sunflower seeds/Pumpkin seeds/Flaxseeds
• 1.5 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 tsp maple syrup/sweetener of choice
• Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees celsius. Melt the coconut oil and mix together with the vanilla essence, maple syrup and cinnamon – I am a big cinnamon fan, so tend to be pretty heavy handed with this.  Cinnamon is reputedly good for reducing insulin resistance and stabilising your blood sugar – and although the research to date isn’t the most robust, it is definitely a better alternative to sugar in your porridge, granola etc (and yes I know there’s maple syrup in this recipe too – cinnamon isn’t that appetising all by itself, but I find it reduces the amount of sugar/honey/maple syrup required).

Roughly chop whichever nuts and seeds you fancy – a sealed sandwich bag and a rolling pin are your best friends for this (and I did warn you it can be noisy, I think my neighbours either side of my tiny apartment must hate me, as my favourite time to bake this is a Saturday morning and then eat it warm).

Mix nuts with the maple glaze, ensuring everything gets covered. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and spread a a thin layer of the granola on it. Bake for about 20minutes, or until golden brown – this can go from “gently toasted” to “burnt to cr*p” pretty fast so be careful!

Leave to cool on the baking paper and store in an airtight jar or tin for up to two weeks (it may last longer than that, but I’ve never had the chance to check).

I usually take this to work with me in a glass jar (save the planet!), but it doesn’t make for a bad lazy Saturday brunch, if you top it with poached blackberries and vanilla yoghurt.  Let me know if you try it!