Crunchy Cardamom Granola

No one should ever be caught be buying granola when it’s this easy to make! Not only that, but you get to customize it to your exact liking. Don’t like almonds? Try some pistachios. Don’t like coconut flakes? Leave them out. Want to add so dark chocolate chips? Go for it. Make it your own. Here on The Table Diaries, we love warming spices like cardamom and cinnamon. We thought it would be fitting during Ramadan to create this Cardamom Granola recipe,e perfect for late-night suhoor. Try layering it parfait style with some greek yoghurt and a drizzle of honey, in a bowl with some warm milk and cut fruit, or our favourite straight out of the bag. It stores well and is so fun to make. Don’t be scared of the olive oil, it gives the granola a beautiful fruity note, that in our opinion is so much better than using anything else.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE CRUNCHY CARDAMOM GRANOLA

Making your Granola

This recipe is for loose granola, if you prefer the chunkier granola keep reading, we have a section at the bottom of this post explaining how to transform this into chunky granola.

The only thing that should remain constituent is the rolled oats. Everything else is customizable. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Dry Ingredients:

• The grains: We used rolled oats and corn flakes
• The nuts: We used almonds because we love almonds. You can use other nuts like macadamia, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, pistachios.
• The Spices: We like spices so we really went for it with our measurements. You can opt for less or leave them out altogether. Try cinnamon, cardamom powder, ginger powder, nutmeg
• Dried Fruits: We opted for dried apricots and coconut flakes. Again you can get creative here try; raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries etc.
• Salt: Yes we consider salt an ingredient and very important here. It balances the granola perfectly.

Wet Ingredients:

These wet ingredients are nonnegotiable to us. We like this combination and prefer it to the many others we have tried.

• Maple Syrup: Use a good quality real maple syrup here.
• Olive Oil: Do not be scared of the olive oil in this recipe, it has a beautiful fruity flavor you will love.
• Light Brown Sugar: This gives the granola a caramelized sweet flavor.

Keep in mind though the components are customizable try and stick to the same weight measurements. For example, if you don’t like almonds try to replace them with another nut in the same weight quantity listed. Want to add raisins instead of dried apricots, again keep the weight measurement of the ingredient the same.

PREPARE THE DRY INGREDIENTS:

Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F), line a baking sheet with parchment paper before you get to mixing!

In a large bowl mix together rolled oats, almonds, cornflakes, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, cinnamon, salt, and cardamom powder. Set Aside.

PREPARE THE WET INGREDIENTS:

In a small saucepan add your olive oil, maple syrup, and brown sugar. Cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally until all the sugar has dissolved. Pour over oat mixture and mix very well making sure all your ingredients are wet.

Spread oats evenly onto your prepared baking sheet.

BAKING YOUR GRANOLA

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and stir the mixture to ensure even baking. Place back in the oven and bake for another 10. Remove again and stir the mixture once more. Place back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. The granola should be a nice golden color.

Add in your chopped apricots and give it one last stir. Allow to cool, then serve on top of some yogurt, with milk, or by the handful for a great filling snack.

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LOOSE VS CLUMPY GRANOLA

This recipe makes loose granola similar to the one on the left. If you like a clumpier more chunky granola you will just need to adjust the recipe slightly. Increase the maple syrup and olive oil to 1/2 a cup each. Then when you place the granola onto the baking sheet use a metal spatula to press it down and pack it together. Allow it to bake untouched for 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to completely cool then break into chunks. ENJOY!