Honey & nut granola with raisins

I have taken my favourite honey & nut granola recipe and added seeds and raisins to the mix. It’s completely addictive and delicious. You can make this gluten-free by using gluten-free oats, and vegan by substituting the butter and honey (see the recipe & note below). Keep your granola stored in sealed jars and sprinkle on anything you fancy. Add it to your overnight oats to your breakfast cereal, or to your morning smoothie. It’s also great just straight up as a snack or trail mix. I love it generously added to double cream Greek-style yoghurt with extra honey drizzled over the top and fresh berries.

You can adapt this honey and nut granola by mixing up the seeds and nuts as you prefer. Add the raisins at the end. There is no need to add them to the granola while it’s baking because they will harden and burn. This recipe can easily be doubled.

The raisins add a lovely chewy texture to granola along with the clumpy crunchy bits. They are packed with antioxidants, iron, and calcium, so give this honey and nut granola recipe a nutritional boost. I developed this recipe for Raisins of South Africa and they produce the most amazing products along the banks of the Orange River in the Northern Cape.

To make this vegan and gluten-free:

Use coconut oil instead of butter and maple syrup instead of honey to make it vegan.
Use gluten-free oats to make it gluten-free.

Recipe – makes about 4 cups of granola

Cook Time:40

Ingredients

¾ cup mixed nuts such as whole almonds skin on hazelnuts, macadamia, pistachios, cashews roughly chopped
½ cup mixed seeds such as pumpkin & sunflower
2 cups oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup melted butter or coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup honey heated – or maple syrup
½ cup sultanas and raisins or one or the other

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 150C / 300 F fan-forced.
In a large bowl mix the roughly chopped nuts, seeds, oats, and cinnamon together. Add the vanilla extract to the melted butter and pour it into the oat mix. Add the heated honey and mix it all together with a wooden spoon until well combined.
Tip the mix onto a large baking sheet lined with silicone or baking paper and spread out evenly. Bake for around 35 – 40 minutes until golden brown. Turn the tray around halfway through and give the granola a good toss.
Allow to cool and then add the raisins and mix. Store the granola in airtight sealed jars.