Tell me I’m not the only one who thinks making your own cereal is like magic? There’s something about all those boxes of cereal at the grocery store that says ‘you definitely can’t make me at home’. I’m looking at you, frosted flakes.
Froot loops and cocoa puffs have made breakfast cereal seem totally factory-made to me. Which is why it’s so cool to make up your own batch of granola, without any weird trickery or a warehouse full of oompa loompas. It’s exciting, you guys!
This granola is particularly awesome because it’s got all the excitement of being a breakfast cereal specifically designed to taste like a desert! And it does it without the weird chemicals or bucketloads of sugar.
Not that I’m against bucketloads of sugar. Just not first thing in the morning on a weekday. I wanna save up my morning sugar bucket for Saturday and that stack of pancakes that’s got my name written all over it.
But I still totally want to enjoy my mornings, and I love eating things that were made by my own fair hands. So instead of paying CRAZY money for the organic store bought granola, I make this.
And I modeled it off the beloved British dessert Sticky Toffee Pudding, which we here in Australia call Sticky Date Pudding. Because it has dates in it and I guess we like to call a spade a spade.
If you’re not familiar with Sticky Date Pudding, let me fill you in. It’s a rich buttery cake/sponge base, that gets subsequently drenched in a toffee/caramel/butterscotch sauce. And when I say drenched, I mean DRENCHED. It’s a dream.
With a little cinnamon spice, a generous amount of dates, and sweetness from golden syrup and brown sugar (not too much!), I feel like I’ve really summoned up the flavour of the heavenly Sticky Date Pudding in this granola.
Of course, if you can’t find golden syrup or would prefer not to use brown sugar, either can be replaced with your choice of sweetener. Honey or maple syrup or even brown rice syrup would work beautifully.
With a swig of ice cold skim milk (or almond milk if I have any), this is what my weekday breakfast looks like these days. What are you chowing down on in the AM?
xx Sarah.
- 3 cups rolled oats
- ½ cup raw almonds, chopped
- ¼ cup raw sesame seeds
- 1 + ½ tsps sea salt flakes
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup golden syrup
- ¾ cup unsweetened raw coconut flakes
- ½ cup roasted macadamia nuts, chopped
- 1 cup dates, chopped
- Preheat the oven to 350F/175C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- In a large bowl combine the oats, almonds, sesame seeds, salt and cinnamon.
- In a separate bowl or jug stir together the olive oil, brown sugar and golden syrup (it won't be cohesive).
- Pour the oil and sugar into the oat mixture and stir well until everything is completely combined - I find this easiest to do with my hands.
- Spread this mixture evenly onto the baking tray, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, giving it a stir halfway through.
- When the 30 minutes are up, add the coconut flakes, and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely - do not stir at this stage.
- Once the granola is cool, break it into bitesized chunks, stir through the macadamias and dates, and store in an airtight container for about 7-10 days. Keeps even longer in the freezer.
I’m so god damn pumped to make this tomorrow night!!!!
I feel like the Brits call in toffee because of the end taste, it’s jut how we roll. Destination not journey. If you’ve travelled the m25 you’ll get me.
God I just made a motorway joke.
HAHA, and it was amazing.
Hi Sarah! I’ll gladly have dessert or anything that tastes like dessert for breakfast. For some weird reason, even though I’ve been wanting to make my own granula since ever, I’ve just never made it. I should just follow your recipe and go for it, it looks great!
PS: just before I wrote this comment, I accidentally pressed ENTER and a blank comment went through…
It’s super easy and I bet ya love it – you should go for it! And thanks for the heads up on the blank. ;)
Um YES making cereal is like magic..magggiiic!! Glad I have dates hanging out, because this is happening soon!
STICKY DATE GRANOLA?!?! Excuse me while I faint…!
I am a sticky toffee pudding freak, so this pretty much just made my day. I can die happy now. Love!
God, I love it too. I should make one, why haven’t I made one yet?
Oh boy!! This granola looks killer, friend! I love the photo of the milk being poured on the granola. Mmmm.
granola at the store is SO expensive…and never has enough mix-ins for me. This sounds perfect for weekday breakfasting.
YES YES and YES.
ohmygod. I want allll of this. I would also really like to try sticky toffee pudding. I had the Haagen Dazs flavor when they had it years ago and it was seriously one of my favorites. stickytoffeepuddingpalooza!
That haagen dazs flavour is like a mythological beast! People can’t stop talking about it. It’s the unicorn of ice cream flavours.
Granola is my love language. I make at least one batch every week or two and go through it just as quickly. I’m in love with this recipe and must try it!
This looks way better than any cold cereal I have ever bought at the grocery store!
Helloooo, beautiful! I used to be super consistent about making my own granola, but a combination of laziness and Jason’s ability to eat a whole batch in 3 days wore me down. This has gotten me excited to try again! (And to hide it from you-know-who…)
Gonna make this tonight, but wondering how much of what unit this is: 3/4¾unsweetened raw coconut flakes… cups? tbsp?
Cups my dear! Sorry about the typo. 3/4 cup, loosely packed.
Loved your granola and made it last weekend. Wonderful! Thanks for sharing. p.s. love the milk jug!!!
Just made this and hate to make myself stop eating it… Breakfast can’t come soon enough! Thanks for the recipe. X Denise
So glad you like this Denise! Thank you for commenting! xx