Cooking my way through… Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl – Tawny granola

This is a new weekend series on A bookworm’s life where I will be featuring my favourite, stand-out recipes from various cook books. I will also be participating in the wonderful Weekend Cooking event hosted by Beth Fish.

I have found a few lovely, delicious recipes in this book but one stands out above the rest and has become a weekly staple in my house. It’s her recipe for granola that is so nutty and crunchy and cinnamon-y it has replaced all other weekday breakfast choices for us.

I am not exaggerating when I say that to make this requires no cooking skills whatsoever; if you are able to stir, you are golden. It takes no time to mix everything together and then the oven does the rest. Miss Dahl is right when she says baking this will make your kitchen smell amazing. It’s pure cinnamon and nutmeg goodness!

This is great with milk in the morning and I find that it’s way more filling that cereal. My favourite way to have it however, is with Greek yoghurt and damson jam, although I’m sure any jam you like would be good too. It’s not just for breakfast though. Whenever I’m working from home, a handful of granola is one of my preferred snacks.

All in all, this is a great simple and tasty recipe. This is far better than the store-bought kind and significantly cheaper as well. I’m thinking that this recipe could also be adapted to make granola bars but I have not attempted it yet. I’ll be sure to report back when I do.

Tawny granola

from Miss Dahl’s voluptuous delights by Sophie Dahl

Oil for greasing

200g of rolled oats

70g of pumpkin seeds

50g of flaked almonds

50g of desiccated coconut (The Boy is not a big fan of coconut so I don’t add this to my granola)

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

160g of agave syrup or honey (just like my grandmother taught me, thyme honey is the only way for me)

2 tablespoons of apple juice

1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon of ground allspice

1 pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

100g of chopped dried apricots

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160° fan/Gas 4 and oil a large baking tray.

In a medium bowl, mix together the oats, pumpkin seeds, almonds and coconut. In a larger bowl mix all the wet ingredients and the spices. Combine the dry ingredients into the wet.

Spread the mixture on the baking tray and bake for around 40 minutes. Halfway through turn the mixture over with a spatula or a spoon so that it toasts evenly on both sides. Take it out of the oven when it’s nice and brown and your kitchen smells divine.

Let it cool for a bit and then add the chopped apricots. Store the granola in an airtight container (I use mason jars).