Recipe | Spiced apricot and almond granola

I absolutely love the crunch of granola but often find that it is rather sweet and probably quite unhealthy (not always a bad thing!) and I usually like to start my day with something healthy. There is also something so nice about the smell of it in the oven - especially on a cold and rainy day at the coast with the fireplace going. I have been wanting to make my own granola for a while now so here it is! You could swap ingredients with whatever you have around - nuts for nuts, dried fruit for dried fruit…

This is quick, easy and has no naughties in it! Perfect for breakfast, a yoghurt or ice cream topper or just a snack by itself. Here I had it with stewed ginger strawberries, natural yoghurt and pear.

2 cups of rolled oats

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 cup natural almonds, roughly chopped

1/3 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

1/2 cup pepitas

1/3 shredded coconut

1/3 cup desiccated coconut

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons of coconut oil, melted

1 tablespoon honey 

1/2 cup apple juice (I freshly juiced mine but bought would be perfectly fine)

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius.

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl (minus the apricots) and mix well.

Add in melted coconut oil, honey and apple juice and mix to ensure all ingredients are coated evenly. 

Transfer granola onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and spread out as much as possible. 

Bake for 30 - 40 minutes until ingredients are crisp and golden, making sure to mix half way through to ensure everything bakes evenly. 

Once out of the oven stir through the dried apricots.

Allow granola to cool completely before storing in an air tight jar.