In the UK, we are now approaching the end of our second week of lockdown. There is possibly no better way to get into week three than making this amazing Vegan Nutella-flavoured Granola, to start every day on a sweet, positive note.
Hi everyone! I hope you are all well and safe in your home, right now. With everything that has been going on for the past couple of weeks, I have found myself making and baking a LOT of sweet and indulgent food. I feel like I just need something comforting to calm me down and making me feel rewarded. I have always used cooking and baking as a coping mechanism against stress. In fact, when I was at university, I would “stress-bake” for weeks prior to my exams. And it would be at the weirdest of times! Once, I was so agitated about an upcoming exam that I just could not go to sleep. I had tried meditating, listening to a podcast, reading a chapter of the most boring book I could find. But nothing. So I simply thought “screw it”, jumped out of bed and headed to the kitchen. That night, at something like 11.30 pm, I started making brownies. And let me tell, you, they were some mean brownies. But they could have turned out awful for what I cared, because what I really needed was putting my time and focus on a task that didn’t require studying books. Plus, it was still making me feel accomplished because I had, in fact, done something with the time I had (a feeling I never had when procrastinating by watching Netflix). I went to bed late, but happy, the rumbling noise in my head temporarily shut down, and I could sleep.
That’s the beautiful thing about cooking and baking. It is a form of diversion, but it is also a labour of passion and love. You channel all your thoughts into it, careful to get the right measurements for everything, paying attention not to over-mix, waiting for your dish to cook or your cake to bake, maybe with a cheeky glass of red (at least that’s what I, ideally, like doing). So this week or so I have been making a lot of food. From savoury meals to cakes, I have done the lot, and I can’t wait to share it with you on the blog. But for the meantime, I am going to post about my new, amazing Nutella-flavoured granola. A real breakfast game changer, if you ask me.
You guys, I can’t get over this granola. I think this must be my new favourite thing. The crunchiness of the hazelnuts and the oats marries so well with the dark chocolate, maple syrup and vanilla essence. The flavour is just so intense! Plus, it's got no palm-oil. It’s just amazing and comes together surprisingly quickly.
What I like about this granola is that it’s not overly sweet. Some chocolate granolas I find at the supermarket are loaded with sugar, which is fine, but I find them a bit sickening and not my preferred way to start my day. This granola is just perfectly balanced. It’s sweet, but not overpowering and the dark cocoa powder really elevates the flavour. Because I used 72% dark chocolate, this granola is naturally vegan and have been enjoying it on top of both coconut and soy yogurt. If you need this recipe to stay plant-based, I recommend checking that your dark chocolate is definitely vegan. I have always thought that every dark chocolate bar with over 70% or more cocoa solids was vegan by default. Turns out it's not always the case. So please, do check the ingredients list. However, if you don’t need this granola to be vegan, you can also substitute the dark chocolate for milk chocolate. This will also make it sweeter. Again, feel free to add more sugar or maple syrup than what I have used, if you have a sweeter tooth. Whatever chocolate you use, this is going to be epic.
You will also notice that I have used a mix of hazelnuts and pecans. Of course, there are no pecans in Nutella, and you can by all means sticking to using just hazelnuts. However, when I first tried it with only hazelnuts, I did find it a bit samey. The pecans add some nice variety, a more aromatic flavour which works very well with the maple syrup, and a slightly different texture. When I mixed the two and tasted it I knew that that was it, just perfect. If you don’t have or don’t like pecans, but would still like to add a different nut, I reckon that cashew nuts will be great. They have a mild taste, quite similar to hazelnuts in a way, which I think will work wonders in here.
If, like me, you have whole, skin-on hazelnuts, you will need to lightly toast them in the oven for a few minutes to remove the skin. This also helps bring out their oily goodness and flavour. If you have peeled, roasted hazelnuts you can skip this step.
This recipe requires a handful of store cupboard / pantry staples and it comes together in under 30 minutes. I have stored it in an airtight container (you could use a mason jar as well) and it should stay fresh for a good three weeks. However, every time I made it, even when it only had the hazelnuts in it, it was gone by week two. This thing is addictive!
So there you have it, the most indulgent, decadent “healthy” breakfast (c’mon, it’s still granola so we can label it healthy). Perfect if you cannot find a single bag of flour out there – which has been my case for the past three days – or if you are just a bit bored of baking. Which is great because you will make this and then, next week, you will want to bake again and by then you will be able to read my new baking recipes! Cheeky, I know.
Ingredients:
140 gr rolled oats
100 – 120 gr skin-on hazelnuts
50 gr pecan nuts
1 heaped tsp dark cocoa powder (or cacao)
¼ tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp brown sugar (white will do)
2 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp vegetable oil
35 gr vegan dark chocolate (normally, chocolate with over 70% of cocoa solids are vegan but do check the ingredients' list before using)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
(Skip the next two steps if using roasted, already-peeled hazelnuts). Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet. Once the oven is hot, bake them for about 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let them cool down for a few minutes. With your hands, remove the hazelnut peel. This should be quite easy, because baking them will help release the “skin.” I simply dig my hands in them and shake them, twist them and move them around for a bit. You don’t have to remove ALL of it, it’s fine if some remains attached to the hazelnuts.
Lower the oven temperature to 160°C.
Roughly chop the hazelnuts and pecans and add them to a large bowl. To the same bowl, add the rolled oats, cocoa powder, sugar, maple syrup, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Mix everything until combined.
Transfer the mixture to a baking sheet with baking paper. With a spoon or spatula, press down the mixture into a compact layer. It should be about 1 to 2 cm tall. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Cut the dark chocolate into small chunks. Remove the granola from the oven and immediately add the chocolate chunks and mix gently with a spoon until fully combined, trying not to brak too many clusters.
Leave to cool and then transfer into an airtight container.
Enjoy!
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