The focus for this year’s Food Revolution Day was about sharing the power of cooking, the benefits of cooking from scratch and, ultimately showing people that changing our food choices can make us both healthier and happier. Instead of one official recipe as there has been in years past, this year, we have a set of 10 recipes chosen by Jamie Oliver that he deems the “Starter Pack of Cooking”. Each recipe covers a different skill and technique that can give anyone the confidence to cook good, real, healthy meals for themselves and their families, for now and the future. Jamie has spoken about the idea of ten recipes to save your life since his TED talk in 2010. Each month from now until December, I’ll be sharing my own twist on Jamie’s recipes which will be showcased along with nine other Ambassador’s ideas over on JamieOliver.Com. You can see previous posts here.

For this month’s Food Revolution Recipe Twist, we were tasked with tweaking Jamie’s DIY Oaty Fruits Cereal. I made this recipe with both my own students and at my Food Revolution Day parent-child class and it was a huge hit. Kids love putting their own spin on a base recipe and it’s always great to show them how easy some store-bought foods are to make on their own at home. Now Jamie’s recipe is an unbaked cereal meaning you can make an excellent muesli or overnight oats/ Bircher muesli but sometimes I want actual granola for breakfast (something about the crunch). I have a number of favourite baked oat cereal recipes I like to use (Jamie’s is among them) but quite often, I either end up over-baking or the recipe is a really crunchy one which sometimes my morning palate finds a little harsh

The solution? A granola that’s baked in a brownie or cake tin so that all the oats don’t get crunchy (the underneath layers remain lovely and chewy)! Once it’s cooled slightly and you are able to handle it, you simply remove the block from the tin and break it apart with your hands. Result? A granola that’s part crunchy and part chewy. Breakfast heaven!

Crispy chewy baked granola

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

40 mins

Baked granola that's got crunch and chew!

Author: Mardi Michels

Recipe type: Breakfast

Serves: 10-12 serves

Ingredients

• 1½ cups (160g) large flake rolled oats
• ¼ cup (40g) pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• ¼ cup (40g) sunflower seeds
• 4 tablespoons wheat bran
• ¼ cup (25g) coconut
• ¼ cup (40g) dried cranberries
• ¼ cup (45g) raisins
• ¼ cup (35g) slivered almonds
• ¼ cup (100g) honey
• ¼ cup (80g) brown rice syrup
• 1 tablespoon (15g) butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease an 8" x 8" baking pan and line the bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper (this will help you remove the granola once it's baked).
3. Combine oats, pepitas, sunflower seeds, wheat bran, coconut, cranberries, raisins and almonds in a large bowl.
4. Meanwhile, gently heat the honey, rice syrup and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
5. Once the butter has melted, remove from the heat, transfer to a clean bowl and allow to cool slightly.
6. Once the honey mix has cooled slightly, pour over the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine.
7. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Use a flat-bottomed spatula to press the mixture down (or use your hands that you have coated with a little oil).
8. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from the oven, place on a wire cooling rack for 15 minutes.
9. Remove the granola from the baking pan and allow to cool until it's a comfortable temperature to handle (around an hour).
10. Take the granola and use your hands to break it apart into some clusters and smaller pieces.
11. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

3.5.3208

How about you – do you like your granola crunchy or chewy?

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