Prep time: 15 minutes
About this recipe
This is inspired by the banana porridge my client shared with Goldilocks, her imaginary childhood friend who took the loneliness out of breakfast time. You can read that story here. The chickpeas are a nod to her breakfast preference today as an adult, but also, together with the sesame seeds and the figs, provide little Greek Cypriot touches. Using the ‘smoothie’ to bind the granola ingredients gives a banana-y background flavour that is neither strong nor too sweet. This granola has lots of textures: the chickpeas have a gentle sandy crunch, the almonds have differential bites to them and the dried figs provide little chunks of soft squidge – it all comes together in a way that is just right.
Ingredients
- 200g soft dried figs
- 60g whole almonds
- 250g jumbo rolled oats
- 100g unsalted dried roasted chickpeas
- 60g flaked almonds
- 60g sunflower seeds
- 30g black sesame seeds
For the banana 'smoothie' binding mixture:
- 200g banana (2 medium bananas)
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
Makes approximately 700g, i.e. a big cereal packet’s worth.
You can buy dried roasted chickpeas from Mediterranean and Middle Eastern grocery shops.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 150C/gas mark 2.
- Chop the figs into small chunks, around 2cm. Place the whole almonds into a pestle and mortar and lightly bash a couple of times so that they are very roughly chopped. Set both aside.
- Place all of the smoothie ingredients into a blender or a food processor and blitz until smooth.
- Apart from the figs, place the remaining ingredients into a large bowl and pour over the banana smoothie. Mix everything together – use a large serving spoon, or indeed, your hands.
- Spread the mixture out onto the largest baking tray your oven will take. Bake for 35 minutes then stir in the figs, making sure they are distributed evenly through the granola. Bake for a further 10-15 minutes, or until your granola has toasted evenly – you want global goldenness. Remove from the oven and leave to cool and form crisp clusters. Store in an airtight container to preserve that crunchiness.