I first discovered granola during my time in Ireland 5 years ago and it’s been my go-to breakfast ever since. But finding the perfect store-bought granola is tricky, either it’s not crunchy enough or it has raisins in it. And when you do find a really good one, it usually turns out to be pretty expensive. The alternative: make it at home!

I’ve made it myself the first time a little over a year ago, but without a recipe the second batch burned and I didn’t try again until last autumn when I found localmilk’s recipe and tipps. Since then I’ve been experimenting a bit with different versions and once you figure out the basics it’s pretty easy to switch it up.

I like my granola crunchy with some medium-sized chunks in it. The easiest way to get this consistency is to add a (beaten) eggwhite. You’ll also need something fine, some kind of flour or in this case oat meal to form the chunks.

In most cases you’ll need some kind of fat (e.g. coconut oil) and something sticky (e.g. honey, sirup).

The next thing you need to think about is temperature and baking time: I like to keep the temperature low (<150°C) and bake for up to 50 min, so none of the add-ins (seeds, nuts, etc) burn but the whole thing still crisps up. I read that you can also bake it on high heat for 10 min and then leave it in the oven to cool down.

This granola is, as usual, the result of what I have (a lot of) and don’t have in my kitchen. I got 1kg of cocoa nibs at the workshop 2 weeks ago and since I’m not a smoothie bowl kind of person, this is where they ended up (still have approx.970g left 😛 ). And luckily so, because they are the perfect healthy alternative to chocolate, they give the granola a bit of a cocoa-y taste.

 

COCONUT + COCOA NIB GRANOLA

1 ½ cups rolled oats

1 cup oat meal (rolled oats processed in food processor)

½ cup shredded coconut

1 cup chopped nuts (I like almond or walnut)

½ cup cocoa nibs

1 cup puffed rice/quinoa

¼ sugar

salt

¼ cup melted coconut oil

¼ cup honey

1 eggwhite

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup of chopped dates (+ any chocolate, dry fruits, seeds you like)

Preheat oven to ~130°C. Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then combine until all the dry stuff is covered. Pat on a baking sheet into one layer, maybe 1 cm thick. Bake for 25 minuted, then flip pieces as large as possible, then bake for another 15-20 minutes. Let it cool completely,  then break it into pieces, add the dates and fill into airtight containers. This is the amount you get from this recipe ↓↓

How do you like your granola? What are your favourite add-ins? Do you have any other granola baking tips?