This delicious granola is so quick and easy to make that you can whip up a batch for breakfast that same day. Shop-bought granolas are often made with a lot of added sugars and oils. These ingredients give the granola that crunch and more-ishness! Many homemade granola recipes also rely on sugar and oil/butter to bind the ingredients together. Fortunately there are ways to get that satisfying crunch and just enough sweetness without sugar and oil. In this recipe we rely mainly on the sweetness of banana and dried fruit, with just a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup, which also helps with the crunchiness. Peanut butter helps to bind the ingredients together whilst adding a lovely subtle nutty flavour.

This granola is made and ready in less than an hour - including washing up! The peanut flavour is not very strong, but you could add some chopped peanuts if you want the peanut-y taste to take centre stage.

You could also swap the peanut butter for any other nut or seed butter.

If you don’t have any flaxseed (also called linseed), this recipe will still work. It’s worth including though as it improves crunch and is a nutritional powerhouse, rich in omega-3 fatty acids (great for your brain!) and lignans (an antioxidant that supports reproductive and menopausal health).

Flaxseed tip: Buy flaxseeds whole and grind them at home in a blender in small batches. They’re much cheaper this way and, since the oil in flaxseed oxidises easily, your flax will be much fresher and less likely to go rancid.

Enjoy as a snack, with plant milk for breakfast, or sprinkle over fruit for a delicious dessert.

Be aware that granola is notoriously easy to burn. This is less likely to happen if you use a glass dish. If using metal, check regularly to ensure there’s no burning, especially round the edges of the tray.

Ingredients

8 dried apricots

2 very ripe/over-ripe bananas

1/3 cup peanut butter (4 tbsps)

1/4 cup tablespoons water

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2.5 cups rolled oats

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

1/4 teaspoon sea salt (omit if peanut butter is salty)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 cup cacao nibs (optional)

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup raisins

Method

Place the dried apricots in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave them to soak. We will come back to them later.
Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Put the peanut butter in a mixing bowl and slowly add the water, a little at a time, whisking with a fork. Keep going until the peanut butter and water are completely combined and you have a creamy texture. Give it time to come together. At first it might look very separated.
Before peeling the banana, squish it as much as you can in its skin. Then pop it out into a separate bowl and continue to mash with a fork until there are no more lumps. Fun!
Add the banana, maple syrup, salt and cinnamon to the bowl with the creamy peanut butter and mix well.
Stir in the oats, ground flaxseed, seeds and cacao nibs until everything is well coated and you see no dry ingredients.
Leave the mixture to sit for 5 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to the baking tray and use a fork to spread it around. Then hold the fork flat and roughly tap all over the mixture to flatten and compress it. You aren’t trying to get an even layer, the purpose is more to really stick everything together.
Then hold your fork the right way up (as you would if you were about to eat something) and poke and flick the mixture to break it up into clumps. Do this all over until you have a variety of small chunks of similar sizes*. These details help to create extra crunchiness and satisfying granola chunks.
Bake for 10 minutes. While you’re waiting, drain the apricots and chop them into little chunks.
Remove the tray from the oven and give the mixture a little shake and poke so that everything gets moved around, trying not to break up the clumps too much. I like to use a fork and my hand to pick bits up and move them around. The granola on the edges of the tray will cook more quickly, so do your best to bring that into the middle of the tray and move the granola in the middle to the outside edges.
Sprinkle the apricot chunks evenly over the granola.
Turn the oven down to 160°C then return the tray to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
Check that nothing is burning, move chunks around if needed and then return to the oven for 4-10 minutes depending on how quickly your granola is browning. Check every 2 minutes. Granola can burn so quickly so these last 10 minutes of diligence will make all the difference.
When ready, the granola should be golden and no longer wet or very soft underneath, though it may still be slightly soft in places. This is normal.**
Transfer to a large bowl or dish and sprinkle over the raisins. The granola will harden up as it cools down.
When completely cool, transfer the mixture to a jar or other airtight container.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for around a week.

* If the chunks are too big they might be a little soft in the middle.

** When you remove the granola at the end, the apricot chunks will be like little (very hot) chunks of jam. I like to take granola chunks and carefully press the sticky apricot chunks onto them. so that they dry together. Optional but worth it in my opinion!