I love to eat crunchy granola with fresh fruit for breakfast with fresh berries and a slice of red papaya or mango. Homemade granola is better in taste and healthier than the healthiest of store bought varieties which often contain extra sugars and additives, especially if you avoid adding concentrated dried fruit that’s relatively high in calories and sugar and eat fresh fruit instead.

This oil free granola is healthy for you being sweetened by pureed ripe bananas which makes the granola clumpier after it’s cooled and turns crispy at room temperature.

Health benefits:

·       One cup of rolled oats gives you 6 grams of protein and 4 grams of dietary fibre known to help lower levels of cholesterol. A cup will provide 70% of the mineral manganese, a mineral that helps in keeping bones strong.

GRANOLA NUTTY CRUNCH w BANANAS

PB, V, DF, SF

Dry ingredients:

5 cups (400 g) organic whole rolled oats

2 handfuls of assorted nuts like cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans

pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds

Wet ingredients:

3 large ripe bananas, mashed to a puree

After baking option:

½ cup (37 g) coconut flakes

Heat the oven to 150’C and line two baking trays with baking paper. Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl, add the wet ingredients to the oats and nuts, stir to combine. Spread the granola onto the two lined baking trays.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, rotate with a spatula and bake a further 20-25 minutes. If you like golden granola, add 5 minutes to both cook times. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. The granola will be chewy and clumpy when it comes out of the oven which turns crispy at room temperature. Stir in coconut flakes.

If the granola is stored in a glass container, it will last a month.