Granola: Power Breakfast

Filed in archive Morsels of Info , Recipes on January 22, 2006

Granola is getting more and more popular. Every health conscious food blogger seems to always be on the lookout for a recipe. It is light, tasty and very filling - makes for a satisfying breakfast or snack.

All this time I thought it was some derivative of the Spanish word for grain - grano. It seems it has a much more colourful history than that. It shares the some roots with Graham crackers, vegetarianism, spas, Kellogg's cornflakes, was the subject of a lawsuit and was revived by hippies. From Foodreference.com is this very good summary:

"Sylvester Graham develops Graham flour and Graham Crackers; later, Dr. James C. Jackson uses sheets of baked Graham flour, broken up, rebaked and broken up again to create "Granula". Then Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, a Seventh Day Adventist and director of their Battle Creek Sanitarium, develops a mix of baked and rebaked whole grains, and also calls it "Granula"; is sued by Dr. Jackson, renames it Granola, but fails to market it and it never becomes a success. Along comes Charles W. Post, a patient at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, leaves uncured, gets cured by a rival religious system follower, opens his own health retreat, and makes his own Granola recipe, but calls it Grape Nuts and makes it commercially successful. The Granola name is revived by the modern health food movement, it becomes a "hippie" health food in the 1960's and finally, today granola has gone mainstream."

Nowadays, there are many variations for granola. There is also muesli, which was invented by a Swiss physician for patients in his hospital. The main difference between granola and muesli is that the former is baked to make it more crunchy and has a bit more sugar content than the latter.

Now and then I also make my own granola. I usually just add whatever ingredients I like in amounts I feel like at the moment. Below is my recipe.

Granola

125 g (4 oz) rolled oats
125 g (4 oz) large oat flakes
62.5 g (2 oz) sliced or chopped hazelnuts
25 g (1 oz) sunflower seeds
25 g (1 oz) sliced or chopped almonds
25 g (1 oz) sesame seeds
12.5 g (0.5 oz) raisins
60 ml (2 fl oz) safflower oil
45 ml (1.5 fl oz) clear honey
45 ml (1.5 fl oz) malt extract (optional)
1.5 - 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven at 190 C (375 F).

In a heavy pan over low heat, pour the safflower oil, honey and malt. Stir gently until thoroughly combined. Mix in the all the ingredients and stir thoroughly.

Spread the mixture into a large baking or roasting pan and bake in the oven for around 20-30 minutes, stirring now and then. Baking time depends on the oven. Watch the mixture carefully so it doesn't burn. Take it out of the oven when it's golden brown.

Leave it to cool and break any clumps with the back of a wooden spoon.

Makes approximately 0.5 kg (1 lb)

You can double or triple the amount for later use. The granola can last for more than a month in an airtight container.

Check out Cooking with Amy for her delectable version - Amy's Granola:Recipe