While my garden hasn’t really had much of a change in the past few weeks, and to be honest it has been a bit of a dissappointment this year, I have focused more on baking. I’ve made blueberry muffins which are amazing and also an almond and raspberry tart. Both these recipes will be up as soon as I have some time.
Now to my post for today. I’ve been in the mood for something chocolatey all this week, and while I do indulge myself from time to time, I do try to stay away from too much sugar. So I thought what better way to curb my cravings than making some chocolate granola? And what goes really well with chocolate? Oranges of course!
The best thing about granola is that you do not have to eat it only at breakfast time, it’s also a very good midday snack instead of say a bag of crisps.
Now to the recipe!
Put oven on 180c/160c fan
Ingredients:
250g oats
150g buckwheat
100g mixed nute (for my recipe I used hazelnut and flaked almonds split 50/50)
50g dark cooking chocolate
4tbs pure Canadian maple syrup
4tbs chia seeds
3tbs neutral cooking oil (I used rapeseed but coconut oil works as well)
Zest and juice from 1 large orange
Method:
Start by chopping the nuts. Then mix the oats, buckwheat, chia seeds, zest and nuts together in a bowl. Cut up the dark chocolate into small pieces and put in a heatproof bowl/sauce pan. Pour the oil over the chocolate and melt together either in the microwave in 10 seconds intervalls or on the stove on low heat. One the chocolate is completely melted add the syrup and orange juice to it and stir until everything is fully incorprated. Next pour the liquid mixture over the dry and stir until everything is covered.
Pour the mixture onto a baking tray and bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, stirring halfway. Once baked and cooled, store the chocolate and orange granola in an airtight container to let it keep its crispness and enjoy with some yoghurt.
Green thumbed swede 