Saffron & Almond Granola

I am sure you’ve all had granola, even homemade ones, but have you tried one flavoured with Saffron and Cardamom? I bet not! It is so immensely fragrant, crunchy and divine! The entire house smelled heavenly for hours after baking this Saffron & Almond Granola.

Saffron is one of the holy spices in India. Expectant mothers are given saffron infused milk during their pregnancy, and although the official reason is that the child being born will be ‘fair’, the actual reason is to imbibe the mother and foetus with its antiseptic, antidepressant, anti-oxidant, digestive and anti-convulsant properties.

It’s good for the grown-ups too. It is the world’s costliest spice, not just because of the manual labour involved in it’s harvest, but also for the glorious health benefits a single pinch can provide.

With saffron, a small pinch can go a long way. Overdo it, and you’ll end up with a nasty, medicine-like taste in your mouth.

Which is why, this granola is the perfect way to introduce tiny doses of saffron each day into your diet. And it’s quite simple too. Makes you want to kick yourself for all the times you bought granola from the store.

First, gather all the ingredients together. You will need to soak the saffron in warm water to steep the flavour and color. Just remember to use lukewarm water, not hot water.

Stir together all the wet ingredients. Don’t worry about the sugar, it’ll melt in the oven and create those beautiful clumps you want.

Stir in the oats, nuts, raisins and other dry ingredients. Mix it all together.

Spread onto a lined baking tray and bake for an hour. If you don’t like clumpy granola, stir ever 15 minutes to break up the clumps (like I did). Otherwise, wait till it’s out of the oven and cooled before you scoop out the granola.

Layer yogurt, granola and berries into a glass and serve! Best eaten immediately after layering to prevent sogginess.

When you make these (which I really think you SHOULD!), be sure to SHARE YOUR PHOTOS with me through Facebook, Instagram (@loveisinmytummy) or Twitter (@loveisinmytummy). I’d love to see what you cook from here and will share it with pride on my social media feeds.

Adapted from All Recipes

Saffron & Almond Granola

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 3 cup quick cooking oats
• 0.5 cup almond slivers
• 0.25 cup dried raisins
• 0.33333333333333 cup honey
• 0.33333333333333 cup brown sugar
• 0.25 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp warm water
• pinch of saffron
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 2 cardamom pods, powdered
• 0.5 tsp cinnamon powder

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 250°F/120°C. Line a medium baking tray with foil.
2. Steep the saffron strands in warm water until it turns orange and fragrant.
3. In a bowl, whisk together honey, oil, saffron water and salt until combined.
4. To the liquid, add the oats, almonds, raisins, cinnamon and cardamom powder. Stir until all the ingredients are well combined.
5. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and bake at 250°F/120°C for 1 hour. For clumpy granola, do not stir while baking.
6. Cool on a wire rack and when completely cool, break up into chunks with a spoon and store in an airtight container for upto a month.