- Sweet, Sticky, Morning Goodness…
Oh good morning chocolate breakfast hit! Oh indulge me honey toasted oats… Wait, you’re slurping the sweet spicy chocolaty milk from the bowl? Don’t worry, me too! It’s half term holidays and we’re enjoying really slow mornings at home! Making granola this morning in my pyjamas was pure joy for me. And the smell of it baking was mouth-watering. Sweet, spicy aromas filled the kitchen as I slurped my morning tea and the children were building Lego, bliss. Until 10 minutes later and the children are throwing the Lego, my tea goes cold while I intervene and, wait, is that the smell of overcooked granola? For a minute there though… I’ve been a huge fan of the chocolate cardamom combination since ‘chocolate cardamom cookies’ in Signie Johansen’s ‘Scandilicious’ cookbook. And the combination works brilliantly in this granola, so without further ado… I give you Cacao & Cardamom, Lazy Morning Granola…
Ingredients to make 4-6 portions:
200g whole rolled oats
50g pumpkin seeds
50g whole almonds, roughly chopped
50g chia seeds
50g raw cacao nibs*, roughly chopped
50g whole hazelnuts, roughly chopped
150g medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
100mls olive oil
50mls runny honey
1 tbsp. butter
1tsp ground cardamom seeds
Method:
1. I used a clean grill pan, but any large flat baking pan or roasting tin should do to spread out the ingredients.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 150C.
3. Spread out the oats on the pan, chop the almonds and hazelnuts and add to the pan.
4. Measure out the pumpkin seeds and chia seeds in to the pan.
5. Roughly chop the cacao nibs and add.
6. Pit the dates and roughly chop, but quite small so they spread evenly through the granola.
7. Take a palm full of cardamom pods and bash in a pestle & mortar, remove the shells and grind the seeds until you have around 1 tsp.
8. Measure the olive oil in to a jug and if your honey is runny add it to the oil. I love Littleover Apiary honey which is 100% chemical and drug free (and is local to me). Otherwise melt the honey with the tablespoon of butter in a pan on the hob.
9. Add the melted butter, to the oil and honey and stir.
10. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry granola and mix until the oats and nuts are fully covered.
11. Place in the oven for 35-45 minutes, setting the timer to turn the granola every 10 minutes to get an even toasting. Remove from the oven when all the oats are lightly browned.
12. Serve with milk or add to yoghurt and store in an air tight container like a Kilner Jar.
This is a lovely loose, crunchy granola, of course adding more butter and honey would make it more clumped and eventually in to breakfast bars if you like?! I would have used coconut oil this morning if I’d had enough, but I’ll leave it to you to substitute for what’s in your cupboards!
Enjoy a precious moment while it cooks!
Lauren
* You can find raw cacao nibs in most health food shops, or online. If cacao is new to you, read a bit about the health benefits of cacao nibs. In brief though, they’re chocolaty (without the sugar or processing), antioxidant, full of magnesium, caffeinated (without the jitters) so perfect in the morning and mood enhancing… Eat up now!!
I love homemade granola. I only just made it for the first time a couple of weeks ago but it’s definitely going to become something I make regularly. I just loved the smell as it was baking too!
It’s a game changer right? Home-made is so the way to go… Give it a go with cacao nibs… It’s so good!
This looks my kind of brekkie — but I have an allergy to oats! Love cardamom so much. Do you have a fave brand of cacao nibs? the ones I’m trying taste kind of fermented — is that just part of the deal?
Have you tried quinoa flakes? They could work for you? I think cacao nibs are like coffee beans and a have their own unique characteristics. Fermented doesn’t sound good though. I’m using ‘the raw chocolate company’. They’re bitter but with a lovely chocolate hit. Always go for fair trade and organic for the sake of the growers and the soil though…
Thank you for helpful suggestions! I’ll experiment with both!