Brown Sugar & Cardamom Granola

No snack or bowl of porridge cannot be made better by a sprinkle of granola.

I change my granola recipe every few years, making the same one on repeat until I feel like it’s time to live a little and switch things up. This has been my go-to for about six months.

Using both maple syrup and soft light brown sugar, it is high in calories. It should be - it’s granola! Too many people these days view granola as a cereal. It’s not, it’s a topping. Wasn’t it originally invented to be a hiking snack? Long-lasting, portable, energy-dense. If that’s not true, you can forgive me for believing it.

Because it is consumed in moderation, I think it’s particularly justifiable to use expensive ingredients. The olive oil needs to be extra virgin, otherwise, it won’t be savoury enough to act as a foil to the double sugar. With nuts, quality counts. A lot of nuts in shops are rancid. When industrially farmed, the time between picking to the shelf is just too long. Splurge on a good quality bag and you will taste and feel the difference. (Fancy nuts offer a noticeably crunchier crunch).

Cardamom is my favourite spice for baking. A member of the ginger family, it has a bright, citrussy, floral quality. Sniff a jar of freshly ground cardamom and you will likely be reminded of Vick’s VapoRub. When used correctly, and that means sparingly, its freshness cuts through the fats and sugar found in baked goods to create a perfectly balanced flavour. (You could use cinnamon as a substitute, but the effect will be quite different (deeper, less balanced) and the granola will be darker in colour).

When stored correctly, in an air-tight container like a jar, this granola keeps for 4-6 weeks.

Ingredients

50ml maple syrup

25ml extra virgin olive oil

3 pods cardamom, freshly ground (or use a pinch of good quality pre-ground cardamom)

25g soft light brown sugar

90g oats

50g mixed nuts

50g mixed seeds (I use a bag of omega mix)

flaky sea salt

Directions

Preheat your oven to 150°C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Place the maple syrup, extra virgin olive oil, soft light brown sugar, and freshly ground cardamom into a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.

Add the dry ingredients and stir to coat. I find it takes about a minute of constant stirring to ensure everything is evenly coated in flavour.

Pour onto your prepared baking tray. Lightly sprinkle with flaky salt. Place into the oven and bake for 45 minutes total. Take it out every 15 minutes to stir. (Keep an eye on it. Oven temperatures vary a lot and nuts burn easily).

Allow to cool completely on the baking tray before transferring into a jar for storage.