I love messing around in the kitchen, particularly when it comes to testing out recipes. Which is why Pinterest is my fave platform to find new food hacks, recipes and such. As such, making granola from scratch caught my eye a few weeks back. Now in Malaysia, store-bought granola is pretty pricey (ranging from RM10 – RM60 onwards, depending on where you get ’em and where it’s imported from). Not only that, it’s usually way too sweet for my liking! So what better way to enjoy a snack with less guilt?

DIY Your Own Granola

With a handy recipe from Just As Delish (who by the way is one of my fave recipe bloggers to follow)I decided to wing it and create several concoctions of my own with the tools and ingredients that I have at home. I’ve even made a few batches for my friends and colleagues; it is THAT simple!

This isn’t my first batch by the way. I have no idea where did I store photos of my original batch of granola *sobs* but this will do I hope?

For the photo above, I’ve used a mixture of nuts and dried fruits for this concoction. Rolled oats is a staple, but I’ve decided to add in rice puffs for that extra ‘crunch’. This masterpiece is ‘glued’ together with a small batch of freshly squeezed OJ mixed with natural honey.

For this batch, only dried fruits and chopped dates were added. This particular granola was made for a friend of mine, who specifically mentioned that she does not want nuts nor cornflakes/rice puffs in hers. So after some consideration, I’ve decided to add in sweet dates (she loves those) alongside dried fruits I have at home. Again, rolled oats is a must.

I couldn’t resist ‘cupcaking’ them somehow! Each mini cupcake holds a small teaspoonful of granola. Perfect bite-sized snacks, I suppose? This was experimented just for fun, and while it does look pretty I don’t think I’ll ever want to go through the trouble again lol.

Can you guess what are the ingredients needed for your own batch of homemade granola by now? 🙂

Ingredients

• 2 cup rolled oats,  toasted
• 1 cup rice puffs OR cornflakes
• 1 cup nuts (chopped macadamia, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, peanuts, walnuts etc)
• 1 cup seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, ground flax seeds etc)
• 1/2 cup dried fruits (cranberries, raisins, apricots etc)
• 2 tablespoons pure honey OR maple syrup OR gula melaka syrup
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice (optional)

Instructions

1. To toast the rolled oats, heat a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat and add in your rolled oats.
2. Stir continuously with a spatula to ensure that the heat is evenly distributed across all oats. Be careful not to burn the oats (that could mean funky granola results!). Toasted oats have a rather fragrant ‘toasty’ smell (pardon my weak English) that is usually my indicator to turn the heat down and swirl it for a couple of minutes more on the skillet.
3. Transfer the toasted rolled oats into a big mixing bowl.
4. Add in rice puffs/cornflakes, nuts, seeds and dried fruits into the mixing bowl and stir with a spatula. Leave it aside for now.
5. In a large saucepan, add in the pure honey/maple syrup/gula melaka syrup and orange juice. Stir over low-medium heat. The key here is to mix these two liquids together without burning the syrup.
6. Stir until syrup thickens (the orange juice will help dilute the syrup slightly).
7. Slowly add in the granola mixture bit by bit and stir continuously to ensure that the mixture is evenly coated with the syrup.
8. Continue to stir occasionally for 5-10 minutes, depending on how ‘well done’ you’d like your granola to be. I prefer mine to be slightly drier so I tend to let it toast for a while longer.
9. Once you’re happy with the results, let the granola cool down before storing it in an airtight container.

There’s so many ways to enjoy granola; here are but a few ways that I love to munch on when I make a batch of my own.

How to enjoy your freshly made Granola

TV Snack

Who knew, right? But it sure beats opening up that packets of chips while watching television

Add it to plain yoghurt

This is my fave trick. I love adding granola to my unsweetened plain yoghurt to give it a bit of fruity/nutty boost. A tummy filler during tea time!

Parfait-it!

Feeling adventurous? Why not make your own parfait using granola and whipped cream? At least it’ll ease up your guilty conscience a fair bit!

Breakfast On-The-Go

Make granola bars or  mini cup-granolas if you’re always on the run. A perfect choice for cosplayers to refuel without having the hassle of cleaning up after eating (if we ever eat during conventions that is!)

How will you enjoy yours? 😉