Homemade granola

THIS crunchy granola is full of toasted nutty flavours. If you make it yourself, you know it’s gluten-free and likely to be much lower in sugar than most supermarket versions. Seeds, nuts and unprocessed oats are absorbed slowly in the gut as they contain complex carbohydrates and lots of fibre. Your microbiome will thrive on the fibre, too.

SERVES 12 (340 calories)

l 100g coconut oil (about 2 heaped tbsp when cold/solid), melted

l 100g soft dates (about 15 large dates), finely chopped l 1 level tsp table salt l 2 tsp vanilla essence l 1 egg white, to bind l 200g jumbo gluten-free oats (or rolled oats)

l 200g mixed seeds, such as sunflower, sesame and pumpkin, and nuts, including almonds, cashews or pistachios l 80g ground flaxseeds l 100g dried fruit, such as berries, raisins or diced apricots

PREHEAT the oven to 120c/gas ½. Blitz the coconut oil, dates, salt, vanilla essence and egg white in a food processor or with a hand blender until a rough paste. Put the oats, seeds, nuts, ground flaxseeds and dried fruit in a medium-sized bowl and pour in the date mixture, working it evenly into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Scatter the mixture in the bottom of a medium-sized, shallow baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and bake for 25-30 minutes. Then turn the oven off and leave to crisp up for an hour or two, or even overnight, before breaking up into small clusters. The granola can be stored in an airtight jar for up to a month, or in the freezer for several months.