At my cafe, Chai by Mira, I’ve been taking certain recipes from my book Saffron Soul and adapting them a little. Granola is one of those staples – everyone’s favourite snack – goes well with cold milk, hot milk, yoghurt, berries, banana. And there really are so many different ways of making it with variations of seeds and nuts, dates, prunes, figs, sultanas, coconut flakes… the list goes on. I have a recipe in my book, but this one here is just slightly different, with a few extra bits! Fennel seeds is one of those yummy little additions which gives a touch of aniseed to granola. A few little seeds really do make a big difference to just one mouthful, one bite, one spoon! Fennel seeds are also great to roast with a little salt and then eat after a meal for digestion, or place in hot water and drink (you can buy jars at the cafe).
- 150g oats
- 65g coconut oil
- 75g honey or maple syrup
- 20g pumpkin seeds
- 10g sunflower seeds
- 10g chopped almonds or any nuts
- 35g desiccated coconut
- 5-7g cinnamon, around 1 tablespoon
- 5-7g cardamom powder, around 1 tablespoon
- 2-3 tablespoons fennel seeds, approx
- 15g chopped dates, handful
- 15g sultanas, handful
Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 5. Mix together all the dry ingredients (except for dates and sultanas), then melt the coconut oil if not already liquid, and stir this and the honey or maple syrup into the dry mix. Taste and change as necessary, then place on a baking tray and in the oven for around 25 minutes. Now add the dates and sultanas into the mix (we add these in later to prevent them from going very hard – makes it difficult to chew and can break your teeth!), place in the oven for another 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and let it cool down.