Granola. I am such a happy gal when I have granola around in my kitchen. I always make my own. Store-bought granola often contains crap and when it doesn’t, it’s probably very expensive and not worth it. Even more so when it only takes around 15 minutes to make it yourself!
I used to make my granola with some sort of oil (coconut or olive) but since learning more about oils (they are not really a health food), I try to at least abstain from using it in my granola. In come the nut butters! Naturally, I would grab the peanut butter, but since the man in my house also likes granola lots and is allergic to pb (sad), I had to find another solution. I find other nut butters a little too bit expensive to cover my granola but, one night, I had tahini in my hand and realized, yes! I love tahini. Why not cover my granola in tahini.
The end result is probably the best granola I ever made. It is crunchy, tastes slightly like tahini and forms little clusters that I love best about granola. Mix in your favorite nuts, some coconut and maybe some dried food and you are in granola heaven.
I eat mine as muesli (the granola with some fruit and then splash in some plant milk), on top of oatmeal, as a snack or on top of pancake bowls (the best). My latest breakfast obsession is a warm bowl of oatmeal though. I cook my oats in coconut milk with chia & pumpkin seeds and some wild blueberries. This creates the most creamy and purple oatmeal. Then we start a little topping party. Whatever fruit you have on hand (love oranges in the winter), the granola and because I am obsessed with tahini, a drizzle of tahini. I think my diet is like 50% tahini these days.
Also, a little bit about wild blueberries (or wild forest berries in Dutch). Not to be confused with the bigger version that is generally sold everywhere (and not blue/purple inside). While also good for your health, they are nothing compared to its wild, smaller version. Wild blueberries have at least 2x more antioxidant power, mainly found in the skin. They also taste much more like a blueberry? Does that make sense?
My supermarket recently started stocking them in the freezer section and I think in general you’ll find wild blueberries there, unless you live in Canada or Sweden and they grow fresh in your backyard. Anyways, I make sure to always have a bag in my freezer of this superfruit.
Tahini granola
1 cup of oats
1 handful almonds, chopped
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp maple syrup
pinch of salt
1 handful hazelnuts, chopped
½ cup grated coconut
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Mix the oats, almonds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds in a bowl. Add the salt, tahini and maple and mix well. Spread out onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Be sure to check often because it can go from almost done to burned very quick!
Wild blueberry oatmeal
50 g quick oats (around 1/2 cup)
3 tbsp blueberries
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
100 ml coconut milk
topping:
tahini granola (recipe above)
fruit
1 tbsp tahini
Add the oats, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds and blueberries to a saucepan and add hot water until all the oats are covered. Leave to sit for a few minutes. Add the coconut milk and heat up the oats until thick and warm while you keep stirring. Transfer to a bowl and add toppings.
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