I have asked Jen to share some of her very scrummy recipes with you all, and here’s her first recipe; her tasty homemade Granola which we have for breakfast and I sometimes have it as a snack post run or for supper. I hope you enjoy as much as we do.

Although I’ve been making this for years, I don’t measure or weigh the ingredients and the recipe adapts to whatever I have in the cupboards. Might be reassuring to know you don’t need to be precise – but it makes it difficult to write it down for those who haven’t made it before!!

I think the last (fairly large) batch was as follows:

Ingredients

400g of rolled oats – I use a mixture of normal and jumbo ones.

100g each of barley flakes, rye flakes, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds

50g each of linseed and sesame seeds

3 tablespoons of chia seeds

Mixing the granola

1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil

100ml of oil – I usually use groundnut or sunflower oil

150g of honey (or maple syrup/agave nectar if making it vegan, but I use less if doing that)

Oven: 200 degrees/180 degrees fan

Put the dry ingredient in a large bowl and mix together, either in a freestanding mixer or by hand with wooden spoon.

In small bowl mix oils and honey together and then pour over dry ingredients and continue to mix well.

Divide mixture between two baking trays lined with baking parchment paper.

Toasting the granola

Toast for 5 minutes. Remove and carefully toss mixture. Bake for another 5 minutes. If it still looks a little wet, I toss again and bake for another few minutes. It is really easy and quick to burn the granola (I know from experience!) so I stay close and keep checking regularly. I let it cool on the trays and then transfer to an airtight container.

Ideas for variations: I have added hazelnuts, flaked almonds, hemp seeds, or cinnamon to the dry ingredients at start. After toasting I’ve mixed in shredded coconut, unsweetened banana chips, and dried fruit such as raisins and cranberries.