Honey Spice Granola

Words, Images & Recipe by Sam Hillman

Granola. The crunchier, toastier and all round more hedonistic cousin to your standard bowl of muesli. It's one of the simplest things you can bake yourself and still has the ability to make you seem like a total domestic goddess. The beauty of homemade granola lies in its adaptability. If you don't like almonds, swap them for another nut. If ginger doesn't float your boat (but seriously who doesn't like ginger?) then stick to just cinnamon. Those with vegan inclinations or large budgets can use maple syrup in lieu of honey. As long as you stick to the basic ratio of wet to dry you'll be fine. Serve with fruit, yogurt, milk or just by the frenzied greedy handful every time you walk past the jar. Not that I do that.

Recipe

Dry Things:

2 cups of rolled oats

1/2 cup of wheat bran

1 cup of almonds

1/2 cup of sunflower seeds

1/2 cup dessicated coconut

1/2 cup of pepitas

2 tsp. of cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp of salt

Wet things:

2t of vanilla extract

zest of one orange

1/2 cup of coconut oil (or butter, if you're feeling particularly decadent)

1/2 cup of honey

Juice of one orange

Post-baking things:

__ cup of chopped dates

1/2 cup of dried cranberries

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine all the wet things until melted. Pour the wet mixture over the dry stuff and toss it all around to coat evenly.

Bake at 170 degrees for twenty minutes until golden. Halfway through, toss the granola around with a spoon to make sure it all browns evenly. Remove when it's all golden and smelling spectacular. Leave it to cool completely before storing it in a jar, if you try to stuff it into a container while it's still warm it will go all steamy and soggy and that's awkward for everybody. It will crisp up nicely as it cools down. once cool stir in the cranberries and dates.