Culture

Critic Food this year has been centred around hearty dinners, savoury dishes and a whole lot of olive oil. So now it’s time for something a little sweeter, something to rouse the tastebuds of the sugar-lovers among you. Delving into the land of breakfast, my dream of daily poached eggs on toast with bacon and a never-ending mug of Earl Grey is usually crushed by the bleak reality of cheap instant coffee and 9am lectures. Glorious granola can be prepared in advance, keeps for a few weeks in an airtight container (provided you don’t nibble away at it all before then) and its flavour range can be easily mixed up with the addition of whatever dried nuts, seeds or fruit appeal to you. You’ll notice I haven’t provided measurements for the cranberries, apricots and almonds. Just follow your instincts and throw in however much you like. This granola recipe is borrowed to a large degree from a recipe in Sophie Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights – a pick-me-up, always inspiring book of recipes, anecdotes, and mouth-watering food photography.

Ingredients

1/2 cup honey (whatever’s cheap)
4 TBS old fashioned/cloudy apple juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup thread coconut
Dried cranberries
Dried apricots, sliced
Sliced almonds

Method

01. Melt the honey in a large bowl in the microwave in 10-second bursts until runny. Stir through the apple juice, and cinnamon if using it.

02. Add the oats to the liquid and stir to coat. Don’t fret if it’s not mixed through entirely evenly – if you get a few clumps this will result in delicious granola clusters.

03. Spread the intoxicatingly sweet oats in an even layer on a baking dish or oven tray. Make sure the layer is fairly thin. Bake at 180°C for 15-20 minutes until golden, then turn the mixture with an egg flip and bake for a further 10-20 minutes or until golden brown. Any clusters may feel a little soft but they will harden up when the mixture cools.

04. Stir the thread coconut, cranberries, apricots and almonds through the granola once it has cooled. Experiment with flavours and textures – try pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, sliced dried figs or whatever else tickles your fancy. Store the granola in an airtight container.

05. Keep it simple, and serve with milk. Alternatively, if you feel like being a little bit indulgent, soak some granola in apple juice in the fridge overnight (which will make the apricots incredibly plump), then serve with a generous dollop of thick Greek-style yoghurt and fresh berries. I opt for unsweetened yoghurt because of the sweetness from the apple juice and honey.