Applesauce Granola

My family is a great fan of granola. Since making my first granola one year ago, I have stopped buying granola from the supermarket. This is because it is healthier, more nutritious and delicious. It also gives me more savings too.

Making your own granola is a breeze. It also allows you to take full control over the selection of ingredients and the amount of sweeteners to be used. You can have the flexibility not to follow exactly the measurements in the recipe. You can easily improvise by tweaking it whichever way you want to. The basic ingredients you need to make your own granola are as follows:

• Old fashioned rolled oats, not quick cooking. It is the main ingredient in the granola.
• Nuts (raw and plain) such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios and cashews. Use any variety or combination that you prefer.
• Seeds (raw) such as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flaxseeds and chia seeds.
• Oils such as sunflower oil, coconut oil, olive oil or any vegetable oil. Fruit puree (such as applesauce) can be used as a substitute for oil.
• Sweeteners such as brown sugar, honey and maple syrup.
• Flavourings and spices such as vanilla extracts, almond extracts, ground cinnamon, and ground ginger. These items are optional.
• Additional ingredients to make your granola more interesting are shredded coconuts, chocolate chips, freshly cut fruits and dried fruits.

This granola recipe is adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson. I am attracted to it as it uses applesauce to substitute oil and only small amount oil is needed. I have customised the recipe to suit my own preference. I have reduced the amount of sweeteners used, skipped the spices and changed the variety and mix of nuts and seeds. The result came out wonderfully delicious! The oats, nuts and seeds are so crispy and flavourful. Once the baking was done, we couldn’t wait for the next breakfast time and had already started nibbling it straight away.

This energy boosting granola is a perfect breakfast to kick-start your day. It goes well with milk and yogurt. You can also eat it plain as a snack. Make a large batch, enough to last the whole week of breakfast!

Get the recipe and step by step tutorial for Applesauce Granola at PAGE 2 BELOW