Homemade Granola

My daughter decided she wanted to make her own granola, fed up with watching her older brother eating Country Crisp no doubt! I searched online for some ideas and we came up with this, but you can put pretty much whatever you like in! The main thing is to (mostly) coat the oats before baking.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 125ml maple syrup
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 300g gluten free rolled oats

You really can add as many or as few of the following ingredients as you like. The above are essential, although I would reduce the oil and syrup slightly if omitting most of the seeds and berries.

• 50g sunflower seeds
• 50g pumpkin seeds
• 100g raisins
• 100g dried berries 
• 50g desiccated coconut

Method

• Heat oven to 150C 
• Mix the oil, maple syrup, honey and vanilla in a large bowl. 
• Tip in all the remaining ingredients, except the dried fruit and coconut, and mix well. 
• Tip the granola onto two baking sheets and spread evenly. 
• Bake for 15 mins, then mix in the coconut and dried fruit, and bake for 10-15 mins more. 
• Allow to cool
• Can be stored in an airtight container for up to a month.

Pancakes on Holiday!

NB This is not a paid review, I discovered this product on holiday in Norfolk and tried it out - and was so impressed I decided to Blog about it.

On holiday in Norfolk we were running short of the usual "freefrom" breakfast cereal and my twelve year old suddenly announce he "needed" pancakes. Of course he did. But it got me thinking!

We holiday in Stiffkey - I cannot recommend it enough! What was *such* a wonderful discovery though was "Stiffkey Stores" a veritable treasure trove of lovely things, retro and classic novelties and the most wonderful selection of original books for children and adults.
And coffee. Did I mention the coffee?! And best of all for us, they stock quite an impressive selection of #freefrom foods. (Please bring back Nak'd Bars for next year though!)

So that was naturally our first port of call. But in fact it was in Holt on a day riding the Poppy Line that I discovered the Larners of Holt Foodhall.  What a wonderful place! Again, a refreshingly impressive selection of freefrom foods. So I stocked up! (slightly regretted that on the train journey home...) 

Obviously, with a child "needing" pancakes this was a priority. I had tried several before and had heard of the Hale and Hearty mix but had not previously managed to obtain it.

I bought the twin pack - perfect for experimenting and feeding several hungry children! First I tried it with rice milk - worked well (top) but needed about 50ml more than the suggested 200ml of milk.

Second I tried with coconut milk - and did not need to add the extra liquid. (bottom)

The Verdict

The kids loved both, but preferred the rice milk option. These worked as savoury or sweet pancakes, there is no sugar  unless you add your own. By FAR the best mix we have tried, but it contains egg - and I didn't try without/with replacer as we had limited resources on holiday.

I would love to hear your views on mixes you have tried - visit our Facebook Page or join our chat group and share your stories!