Ola, Granola!

You know that feeling... You've let your self go for a while too long now and your body's starting to turn to mush. You subconciously feel the pull of vitamins, good polywhatsitsnames, essential oils and, well, something good to put into the temple you've been worshiping the devil in lately. Don't get me wrong.. a well made bacon butty with brown sauce is a worthy temptation, but it doesn't exactly tick any health and wellbeing boxes, does it? What you need is something your stomach will thank you for. Something that will be not just good, but great for you. Something that will keep you going all the way up to lunch time. Something actually really nice to eat.
Bring on the Granola. Thing is - it's one of those wee recipes that only takes one making before you totally understand it. One of those things that you could say "I think I'll add a few dried whatsitsnames" and it would work because you have a mental picture of how it would turn out. And above all, it's REALLY easy. Any numpty could do it. Just make sure you've got something airtight to put it in. I use an old biscuit tin and it does rightly.

The fixings:
* 3 tbsp vegetable oil
* 125ml maple syrup
* 3 tbsp honey
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 300g rolled oats
* 50g sunflower seeds
* 4 tbsp sesame seeds
* 50g pumpkin seeds
* 100g flaked almonds
* 100g dried berries (find them in the baking aisle)
* 50g coconuts flakes or desiccated coconut

The Prep:
Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2. Mix the oil, maple syrup, honey and vanilla in a large bowl. Tip in all the remaining ingredients, except the dried fruit and coconut, and mix well.

The Final Act
Tip the granola into a deep baking tray and spread evenly. Bake for 15 mins, then mix in the coconut and dried fruit, and bake for 10-15 mins more or until light golden. Remove and leave to cool, turning occasionally.

Points to remember: it won't go crunchy in the oven, so don't try otherwise you've screwed the pooch - it will go crunchy as it cools down. Don't overcook it otherwise it will taste burnt. Add some stoned dates in big chunks for a toffee-like chew. Add hazlenuts or pecans for a nutty twist. Add dried apricots... you get the picture. After a couple of goes, you get to know the right consistency and make it up by feel.

One last thing... This cereal is absolutely delicious if you use yogurt instead of milk and I like to leave it sitting for a few minutes to get a sort of porridgey texture. Oh yea!