A good start to the day

There are many people who quite happily skip breakfast, going about their business on an empty stomach. I'm definitely not one of them!  I love porridge, breadrolls with cheese or jam or the latest favourite: homemade granola! For some reason I always thought that something this tasty must inevitably be very difficult to make...wrong! This version is easy to make and once you've tried it, breakfast will be firmly on the menu!

Oats ready for toasting in the oven

Seeds & fruit mix for granola

I usually replace the vanilla extract with cinnamon and leave out the oil - the nice thing is that you can play with it and make it exactly how you like by adding different types of dried fruit, nuts & seeds etc.  It is lovely eaten with just milk (of any type - nut or soya milk would definitely also work instead of cow's milk) or topped with fresh fruit and yogurt.  Yummy - here is to a good start to the day!



 Granola

Ingredients:

• 150ml maple syrup
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional) - or replace with cinnamon
• 300g rolled oats
• 50g sunflower seeds
• 4 tbsp sesame seeds
• 50g pumpkin seeds
• 100g flaked almonds
• 100g dried berries (find them in the baking aisle)
• 50g coconuts flakes or desiccated coconut (optional)

Method:

1. Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2. Mix the maple syrup, honey and vanilla (or cinnamon if using) in a large bowl. Tip in all the remaining ingredients, except the dried fruit and coconut, and mix well.
2. Tip the granola onto two baking sheets and spread evenly. Bake for 15 mins, then mix in the coconut and dried fruit, and bake for 10-15 mins more. Remove and scrape onto a flat tray to cool. Serve with cold milk or yogurt. The granola can be stored in an airtight container for up to a month.