I have always been a sucker when it comes to granola, it used to be my go to go breakfast for years until I realised how much sugar the regular shop bought granolas almost always have.

This granola instead is incredibly low in sugar and obviously high in goodness! I haven’t used any maple syrup or honey, the sweetness comes entirely from the apples and the dried apricots, combined with some gorgeous velvety almond butter it literally creates the most gorgeous, nutty, caramel taste granola.

Ingredients: ( makes a large jar)

1 and 1/2 of rolled jumbo oats

2 apples ( for this recipe I have used Jazz Apples as they naturally very sweet) peeled and chopped in bite size pieces

1/2 cup of almonds roughly chopped

1/2 cup of pecans roughly chopped

1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup of gojii berries (optional)

1/2 cup of raw coconut chips

3/4 of a cup of dried apricots ( try to buy unsulphited ones, they will look brown)

2 generous tablespoon of almond butter

2 tablespoon of coconut oil melted

2 teaspoon of cinnamon

Extras:

1/2 cup of quinoa pops

1/2 cup of buckinis

Start by dehydrate the apples. Place the chopped apples in a tray lined with baking paper and sprinkle them with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder. Place the them in the oven at 120 degrees for at least 40 minutes. After 20 minutes stir them to make sure they cook evenly. After 40 minutes the apples should be golden brown and crispy. Take the tray out of the oven and leave it on one side to cool.

To make the apricot and almond butter paste: chopped the dried apricots in small pieces and place them into a food processor with the almond butter and the coconut oil. Blitz the mixture for about 1-2 minutes until it becomes a soft and sticky paste.

Line a tray with baking paper, add the oats, the remaining cinnamon powder and the chopped nuts. Pour the apricots and almond butter paste over them and with your hands combine everything together, you should get sticky clusters of oats and nuts.

Place the tray in the oven and bake at 120-150 degrees for 45 minutes. After 20 minutes stir the granola to make sure it doesn’t burn. After 35 minutes take the granola out and add the coconut chips, the sunflower seeds and the pumpkin seeds. Place it back in the ice for a further 10 minutes. Once the granola is nice and crunchy take it out of the oven and leave it to cool. Once it’s all cooled down add the dried apples pieces baked previously. I like to also add  gojii berries, quinoa pops and buckinis, these are totally optional and the granola will taste as delicious without.

Store the granola in air tight jar for up to 1 month.

I like to serve my granola with almond milk, sliced banana and fresh berries, it is seriously the best breakfast!