Spiced Granola

This is a great breakfast option with some yogurt and fruit or a post workout snack.

You can chop and change this recipe to make it more suitable for you have to hand but note this may change the nutrient profile. Use whatever nuts you have/fancy and add more or less dried fruit depending on your requirements - note more will increase the calorie and carbohydrate content. Dried cranberries, golden raisins and dates all make wonderful additions. Also if you are not a fan of the spiced element just leave the spices out. Finally you can substitute the sunflower oil for coconut oil.

This will keep in an airtight container for about 10 days.

Serves 10

Ingredients:

240g oats

240g rye/barley flakes

1tsp. cinnamon

1tsp. ground ginger

10 cardamon pods, crushed

165g honey

100ml sunflower oil

100g hazelnuts, crushed

50g pumpkin seeds

80g desiccated coconut

50g dried apricots, chopped

Method:

1). Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Place the oats, rye, and spices into a mixing bowl.

2). Put the oil and honey into a saucepan and heat until the honey has melted. Mix this into the dry ingredients. Spread onto baking sheets. Note: the number of sheets required will depend on the size of them - you want the mixture to be spread thinly.

3). Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally. About half way though cooking I add the hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds to toast. You can skip this or you can toast them separately and add at the end. Note the cooking times will vary according to oven temperatures so make sure that the mixture is golden and toasted not too dark and roasted as it will continue to darken once out of the oven.

4). Once done, remove from the oven and mix in the remaining ingredients. I usually do this in a bowl to make sure everything is evenly mixed.

5). Pop into a container or jar.

6). Enjoy!

Nutritional Composition (per serving):

Energy (kcal): 484

Fat (g): 26

Saturates (g): 6.7

Carbohydrates (g): 50

Sugars (g): 17

Protein (g): 9

The Sports Chef