Banana, nut and honey crunchy granola - gluten free option

I haven't done a recipe post in a very long time, apologies my loyal readers but life just got in the way. This beautiful crunchy granola was originally inspired by a facebook post by Miranda Gore Browne ( off on of the early series of GBBO), she posted something similar and it looked delicious, so I set myself the task of creating a granola which would use overripe bananas.

We all experience the unloved banana syndrome from time to time, Mr LF refuses to eat banana once slightly spotty so I nearly always have an ample supply of bananas for bakes and makes, but this one has become one of my favourites, so frugal , so delicious.

For the last month or so I have been sharing the recipe with some of my work collegues and they all love it, so here goes.....

What you need

• Roughly 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats (if you need gluten free, buy GF oats)
• 1/4 cup of chopped mixed nuts ( I buy a mixed bag with skins on and roughly chop)
• 1/4 cup of mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, linseed, etc)
• A few drops of vanilla extract
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 1/2 tsp runny honey 
• 1 large ripe banana

What you do

• Pre heat the oven to 200c
• Prepare your baking tray, line with baking parchment
• In a large bowl, mash the banana with a fork
• Add the coconut oil, vanilla and honey.
• Mix until you have a smoothish mixture, mashing any coconut oil lumps
• Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.

• Strew on the baking tray so you have a moist rubble like texture

• Place in the oven for approx 12 minutes , remove and turn the rubble to dry out the other side
• Place back in oven for approx 10 minutes until your granola is golden and slightly crunchy.
• Switch the oven off but leave tray in oven to cool with the oven door a jar to let the granola dry out further.

• Once cool store in an airtight jar, I find a kilner jar is perfect.

Gorgeous granola

Granola is so expensive in the shops and the ingredients in it some seems to be of variable quality too, I have often hunted for the solitary pecan nut in maple, pecan granola !

So I decided I would have a go at making my own and wow can you taste the difference, plus you are in control of the ingredients in your mix, so you can ensure it has more of the things you like in it (in my case maple syrup and cinnamon) and less of the things you don't (in my case gluten, some commercially produced brands contain wheat flour to bind the ingredients). It also works out much more economical too as a box of quality granola often retails for more than £2.50 and this mix makes probably twice as much than in contained in a box.

So if you are on a health kick for the new year why not start by making your own granola, its healthy and very very tasty.

What you need

• 3 cups oats (check gluten free if necessary)
• 1 cup of chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc)
• 1 cup of seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, chia, flax, etc)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cardamon
• 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cups of maple syrup or honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup of dried fruit chopped (any you like)

What you do

• Pre heat the oven to 180c
• Mix the oats, spices, salt, maple syrup and seeds and coconut oil in a large bowl.
• Tip onto 2 large baking trays and level off gently, bake for 15 minutes or so and then turn the oats over.
• Bake for another 15 minutes or so until golden and the mixture is drying out and turning crispy (do not burn)
• Mix the warm oats with the chopped nuts and dried fruit in a large bowl and then empty back on to the trays to cool.
• Store in an airtight jar once fully cool.
• Serve with yogurt or fruit, delicious .....

I am linking up to Credit Crunch Munch for this frugal yet wonderful granola recipe hosted over at Fuss Free Flavours and co hosted by Camilla at Fab Food for all.