Homemade puffed amaranth granola recipe

The importance of a healthy breakfast

We could talk all day about how important it is to set up your day with a healthy meal (and indeed, we have quite a few articles about breakfast!).

One of the easiest ways to fill up with energy in the morning is with a bowl of breakfast cereal. But cereals have had a bad rap recently. This is mostly down to commercial cereals which are heavily processed and often contain lots of extra salt and sugar.

And while we love eating granola for breakfast, it’s definitely true that not all granolas are created equal. We get into the topic in some detail in our article about whether granola is good for you, so head over there for more detailed information.

However suffice to say that lots of refined sugar and fat first thing in the morning isn’t great for any of us.

Making our homemade vegan granola

The main problem with supermarket granolas is that they add a lot of sugar and fat into the recipe to cut costs or add flavour cheaply.

At home, we have more control over what goes into our breakfast. Plus, as you’re making it for yourself, you won’t want to cut any corners or save money by using poor quality ingredients.

That’s a major argument for making your own homemade vegan granola!

Another one is: it’s really quick and easy. So much so that you’ll wonder why you ever bought a pack of granola from the shops.

It involves basically no prep and the whole thing is ready in under half an hour, providing you with enough for a week of healthy breakfasts.

So, with a huge choice of nuts, grains and fruits available, what made the cut in our granola recipe?

Nuts, grains and fruits

First up, we’ve gone down the traditional route and started with oats. Use the wholegrain variety. You can choose the texture you like best; porridge oats will clump together a bit better, but larger steel cut oats will have more bite. It all depends on your personal preference.

When it comes to the fruit, we’ve chosen dried cranberries. Their tart flavour adds a nice, refreshing note to the granola. However, you can swap it up and try dried cherries or apricots, for example.

We also love the texture dried coconut provides, which is a great contrast to the oats and fruit.

When it comes to nuts, we’ve gone for almonds. They’re a source of protein, fibre and vitamin E, which is great for your skin. Plus, they’re naturally filling, which is ideal to keep you feeling satisfied until lunchtime.

Our unusual, but well-warranted, addition is puffed amaranth. True, you don’t usually come across it in supermarket granolas. But allow us to make the case for why you should include it.

Puffed amaranth

If you like puffed rice, you will adore the texture of puffed amaranth. Although the grains are smaller, they still have that lovely puffy, crisp texture.

It’s a welcome textural contrast, and has a mild nutty flavour which complements the other ingredients.

However, amaranth has more to offer than its taste and texture. It’s a healthy ancient grain. Modern grains like wheat and rice have been cultivated over generations, using techniques like genetic modification or hybridisation. This has somewhat weakened their nutritional value.

On the other hand, ancient grains are just the same as they were thousands of years ago, with all those precious nutrients intact.

In the case of amaranth, that means you can benefit from minerals such as magnesium and phosphorus, as well as squalene. As skincare buffs will know, squalene is involved in keeping your skin hydrated, plump and bouncy. A worthy addition to your breakfast bowl!

Yes, we’ve added chocolate

We’ll admit it: we’re chocolate addicts. It was a formative day in our lives when we discovered that dark chocolate - or particularly raw cacao - has lots of health benefits, as well as tasting delicious.

Now, raw cacao is one of our favourite ingredients. Use it to make sweets, chocolate porridge, healthy desserts or an indulgent-tasting smoothie to scratch that chocolate itch in the healthiest way possible.

So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that we’ve included it in our granola recipe.

Just a tablespoon of raw cacao lends a really rich, indulgent flavour which tastes like it should be bad for you. The fact that it’s actually good for you is an incredible bonus!

No time to cook this week?

Our granola recipe comes together in a flash. But if you’re really struggling for time, you could always go with one of our Erbology Tigernut Granolas.

Unlike this recipe - and most commercial varieties of granola - our granolas don’t contain oats.

Instead, we use tigernut which, despite its name, is not actually a nut. Rather, it’s a tuber. It’s packed with prebiotic fibre which keeps the bacteria living in your gut happy and healthy.

We don’t use refined sugar in any of our granolas, instead sweetening them naturally with fruit such as apples, dates and raisins.

And don’t worry, we’ve made sure to include a chocolate variety as well! If you crave something sweet at breakfast time, try our Jerusalem Artichoke and Raw Cacao Granola.

Your mum might not have let you eat chocolate for breakfast when you were a kid, but she’d certainly approve of our healthy granolas!