I bought a big bag of whole hazelnuts at the market a few days ago. I thought it might be less expensive to buy them still in the shell and then crack them myself - turns out the hassle is not worth the tiny savings (since you're also paying for the weight of the shells). It took Graham and I over an hour to shell a kilogram, and I ended up with just enough for this recipe and snacking. I recruited him after my hands starting hurting, ha.
This vegan cinnamon hazelnut granola is another recipe that was made with minimal pantry ingredients, with the exception of the hazelnuts. Including the spices it has just seven ingredients. If you like crispy, clustered granola, this is for you - the chia seeds and coconut oil help the granola form into clusters, and it stays crunchy for a long time. It's not particularly sweet but I think the cinnamon helps to make it seem a little sweeter than it really is. The maple syrup, cinnamon, and hazelnuts go really well together and taste like autumn.
I made baked apples and topped them with this granola and some grated dark chocolate and it was excellent, so I recommend trying that if you try this granola. The apples I have from my omi's trees exploded in the oven so I decided against taking pictures, but all you have to do is wash and core a couple of apples and bake them until they can be easily pierced with a fork. We had them with the granola for breakfast a few times and it was perfect. I convinced omi that baked apples can be a breakfast food despite her arguments against it, but she ate it. She was skeptical at first, and then she polished off two whole baked apples. For breakfast. Scandalous.
Otherwise, granola is granola and you can eat it with your favourite milk, yogurt, fruit, or just plain. I love this granola with some oat milk (my new go-to) for breakfast or as a midday snack. This recipe is naturally gluten free and vegan. I have tried it with honey in place of the maple syrup and found it too sticky and sweet, so I don't recommend it.
