Porridge is good for you. I’m sorry. Too slimy for me. So I thought, why not eat it baked instead of boiled? Granola was the perfect solution. Trouble is, the store-bought granola is all so sweet, and who needs that when you’re already sweet enough, right?
Solution? Make my own granola. You can do it too. It’s EASY! Big flakes of rolled oats go into the bowl, about 8 cups makes it worthwhile. After that, you add whatever you happen to have on hand or like to eat, in the way of nuts and seeds.
I like to use pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, whatever kind of nuts I have on hand – today it’s almonds and hazelnuts. A cup of each is plenty. Chop the nuts. By the way, the reason you don’t see any sunflower seeds on the table is because the ones I tried to buy yesterday from the bulk bins in the store were rancid. I usually get the salted seeds for that reason but in this case, even the salt couldn’t save the natural oil in the seeds from going rancid. At home I always keep nuts and seeds in the freezer.
So we’re doing without sunflower seeds.
You can use whatever you want in the granola, but keep in mind that fruit and berries or raisins will not turn out well if you toast them. Better to add those later when you are making your breakfast.
Mix the chopped nuts and seeds with the rolled oats in a big bowl. Spread the mixture onto baking sheets, not too thick, but just so the sheets are covered.
Drizzle liquid honey over the granola mix. I had one hand on the wiggling camera and the other hand trying to drizzle the honey. The photo came out pretty bad. Still, I didn’t want you to miss out on that step, so here is the blurry reminder to sweeten the granola a little bit.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 6 to 8 minutes. The granola at the edges of the baking sheet will turn brown. Take it out of the oven before it burns (which can happen quickly).
Important tip***** When it’s done, scrape the granola off the sheet and into a bowl right away, or the melted, baked honey will glue the granola onto the sheet.
Now take out whatever fruit or berries you have on hand (or not), put some granola into a small bowl, add milk (some prefer yogurt), and top it with your berries.
Place the bowl on a lovely mat knitted for you by your friend and enjoy a healthy, tasty breakfast.
Sounds delicious and easy to make. I can not stand sugary granola so this is perfect for me. Good to know about keeping seeds in the freezer. I usually store them in the pantry. Thanks for sharing. Lori
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I’m sure there are all kinds of other ingredients that could be used. These are the easiest for me. Good to hear I’m not the only one who doesn’t like all that sugar in what is marketed as a supposedly healthy food.
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You gave me some once and I can testify that it’s very good.
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I don’t remember that, but I’m glad you liked it.
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Once prepared..can this granola be frozen in small batches? I stay away from bulk bins for the very reason you mentioned. Your recipe looks delicious. Salivating 🙂
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Yes, that’s what we do. Freeze it. Take out what you need.
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Hi Anneli,
that looks like a good recipe, especially as I consider porridge to be “English glue”. 😉 Or “wallpaper glue”.
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I know porridge is good for you but it gives me the shudders. Haferschleim, right?
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Yes, Haferschleim. 😦 And “Schleim” being something horrible in and by itself. *shuddeer*
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I am eating the joghurt with fruits and in the afternoon I have some nuts and in the morning coffee I put the honey – I cannot stand oat flakes, so this is easy to make too. I agree that your granola sounds “lecker”! Thanks for sharing.
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Well, the yogurt and fruit is good for you, for sure.
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Looks delish, Anneli!
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And the good thing is that it doesn’t leave you feeling hungry five minutes later.
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I’m going to ask a really dumb question (that everyone can read :-P). Is this something you can snack on, like trail mix? Or is the honey too sticky? Since I’m still on the low-carb thing, this is perfect and sounds yummy to my taste buds.
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I think you could use it like a trail mix. I only put a drizzle of honey on it – like a thin line of honey every two inches back and forth across the baking sheet. Once it is toasted in the oven, the bits of granola stick to the honey in little globs and the honey itself has hardened somewhat. I quite often reach into the mixture to grab a handful of it to snack on and it’s not gooey at all. And no, it was not a dumb question.
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Looks and sounds delicious. I’ll have to try it.
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It’s very easy and healthy.
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Oh my gosh yes! I LOVE granola. I should make this now that I’m back at work. What a quick grab and go breakfast that I can eat quick when I arrive to work 😁 thanks for the share! This is definitely being made.
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That’s so good to hear, Tonya. Enjoy.
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I love my porridge, if it isn’t overcooked. BUT…your recipe looks great too. I might just have to try that. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
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Okay, I’ll forget you said that. LOL
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We have porridge every morning – yum! But I have made something similar. Home made yoghurt would go well with this. That is easy to make too. I use lactose free milk, warm it to just above body temperature, stir in the starter base (original is a shop bought natural probiotic yoghurt). It needs to be kept warm so you could wrap the saucepan in a double thickness towel and pop it into one of those cooler bags. I use a stainless steel double walled thermobowl, making sure I warm it up with boiled water so the yoghurt mix does not cool down when I pour it in. I make it at the end of the day and leave it overnight. It’s ready in the morning. Just make sure you keep enough of the yoghurt in a small container as the next starter base.
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I used to do that a long, long time ago. Got lazy I guess. It was good yogurt too, done like that. Thanks for the reminder.
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My daughter makes homemade granola and it is close to the same recipe, which I admire your making enough for some time! I will mention how you make big trays, Anneli.
All by myself, I tend to mix low sugar cereals up with raisins, mixed nuts and or dried cranberries, five Ziploc bags at a time. They are perfect snacks at first or second work break (8:45 and 1:45). Yummy recipe!!
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And so much better than having everything store-bought.
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You’re so right, Anneli! 😊
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