Tuesday, 8 April 2014

salted chocolate olive oil granola + fauji cornflakes

salted chocolate olive oil granola
breakfast cereals never fascinated me as much as they did my brother m. i had a brief affection for frosties but looking back that had more to do with the novelty, rather than the taste of them. baba first bought them from a bonded warehouse where diplomats used to purchase the familiar tastes of home. they were a treat rather than a breakfast staple. perhaps m liked cereal more because he was from the generation that did not have to eat fauji cornflakes; the military brand of cereal that was lacklustre and limp at the first introduction of milk. my dadi would eat them with hot milk. m’s particular favourite were coco pops, a talking cereal that crackled like popping candy in milk. the puffed rice grains would relieve themselves of their sugary chocolate coating colouring and flavouring the milk to a nursery like chocolate milk.

all this was until i had granola in arizona. granola had interest – it was crisp, sweet, savoury, tart and chewy at once. it held its own in milk but was at its best with yoghurt. and as i discovered, it was really simple to make. large flakes of oats tossed in some manner of sweetener and fat were toasted until crisp. then one would add any manner of nuts, dried fruits and seeds. even chocolate or butterscotch chips if desired.

i have been making my own granola for a while now. it is o’s breakfast staple. but sometimes one needs a change and this granola is a bit different. it is inspired by pan con chocolate, aceite y sal (literally chocolate on toast with a drizzle of olive oil and some flaky salt) that o and i had at el velodromo in barcelona last winter. i use a mixture of olive oil and cocoa sweetened with honey to coat the rolled oats before toasting them slowly. the end result has a vague affinity with coco pops for it gives the milk a chocolate flavour. however it parts ways with the sugary sweetness for that of honey with savouriness from the salt. it is good for breakfast but both o and i think it is best for dry snacking. 

{salted chocolate olive oil granola}

three hundred and fifty grams rolled oats (preferably organic) 
one hundred and fifty grams almonds 
hundred ml olive oil 
two hundred ml honey 
thirty grams cocoa powder 
five grams maldon salt 

preheat the oven to a 150˚c. line a large roasting tin with baking parchment. 

place the oats and almonds in a large mixing bowl. place the olive oil, honey and salt in a small pan. heat it gently so that the honey melts and the salt dissolves. when warm whisk in the cocoa to obtain a smooth mixture. pour this over the dry ingredients and mix well to ensure that the oats and almonds are fully coated. 

spread the granola over the parchment and bake for roughly forty-five minutes to an hour stirring every fifteen minutes. the granola is ready with it loses its stickiness and the oats are crisp. the best way to test this is to cool a small amount at the forty-five minute mark and taste it. allow the granola to cool in the oven before storing it in an air-tight jar.

2 comments:

  1. I was trying to decide which route to take with my bag of rolled oats.. I wanted something with sea salt and big chunks of chocolate. This seems about right, and very delicious.

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  2. let me know what you think of it! the hubby is in love and i am now relegated to making batch after batch of it. x

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