Chai-Spiced Granola
It never occurred to me to make my own granola, but I was gifted a jar of the homemade stuff at a dinner party once. That sweet gesture made such an impact, I was convinced to try my hand at my own!
For as long as I can remember, breakfast has always been a savoury affair in my family—and almost always classic Filipino with THE WORKS—garlic fried rice, eggs (often scrambled or over easy), longanisa (Philippine-style sausages that are a little similar to the Portuguese linguiça) or tosino (Philippine-style sweet-cured pork belly: this is basically our “bacon”—but ours is thicker and sweeter than it is thin, salty, and crispy), and slices of avocado and fruit for sides. Sometimes, as a bit of a treat while my sister and I watched our Saturday morning cartoons on TV, my dad would make his version of omu-rice for us—a Japanese-style omelette filled with fried rice. My dad’s omu-rice is, to this day, still my favourite breakfast.
When my sister and I got older, we developed this habit of rarely eating breakfast on our way to school, especially when we were old enough to drink coffee (our coffee drinking days started in our mid-teens). Coffee was our breakfast most days. And yes, like the typical North American family, we, too, had boxes of cereal in our pantry, but we rarely ate the stuff. Cereal has been relegated to the back of our snack cupboard or on the top of our fridge—rarely touched except out of sheer necessity and the odd shake-up in our snacking habits. In fact, cereal would often sit in our plastic cereal containers for months and months and months. It would take us forever to finish a Costco-sized box of Frosted Flakes or Rice Krispies. I often wondered why my mom would buy the stuff when it took us way too long to finish off a regular-sized box, much less a Costco-sized one.
I found granola far more enticing, and—at least, for me—felt like a more nutritious alternative to the boxed cereal. Granola was new territory for me! I liked the combination of nuts, oats, seeds, and dried fruit and liked that it did not turn to mush too quickly when I added milk to it. Mind you, the emergence of granola in my life did not happen until my mid-to-late twenties, and most likely did not occur until after I moved from Toronto to Vancouver. I was introduced to the Nature’s Path brand, and found it delicious, but for my boyfriend (now husband) and me at the time, this particular brand was on the pricier side of our small food budget at the time. I think we would allow ourselves this granola when it went on sale, especially since a box of the stuff did not last us very long. Breakfasts during my early years with Jeff remained squarely on the savoury side during the weekends, which was usually scrambled eggs and maybe avocado slices (if we found some on sale) on toast. On weekdays, if I had some leisure time before I had to take the long transit ride to work, we had toast with peanut butter and jam—to accompany our requisite morning tea, of course.
It did not even occur to me to make my own granola until after one of my now sisters-in-law—Angela—sent me home with granola she had made after having dinner at her old apartment one evening! Naturally, I found the homemade stuff far more superior than the store-bought kind. I recall feeling a little sad when the last of the mason jar of granola she had given me was polished off (by yours truly) after only two days.
The making of this granola, then, was inspired by the very first time I had ever been gifted homemade granola by Angela. Although I still lean more towards savoury breakfasts or skip the meal altogether, I turn to granola on the odd days I wake up super hungry in the morning and don’t have much time to make eggs on toast. Monsoon Coast’s Chai Pie Spice gives this granola a subtle fragrant and spicy twist, but feel free to increase the amount to another tablespoon to give your mix a more chai kick!
This granola is almost a non-recipe because it relies on whatever you have in your pantry, assuming, of course, that you keep old-fashioned rolled oats, and a variety of seeds, grains, and nuts in your cupboard and freezer! I had millet, buckwheat groats, hemp hearts, shredded coconut, and pumpkin seeds in my pantry, so I used those. Feel free to switch up the seeds and grains I used here; you can use the ratios I have here as a rough guide. You can also use whatever oil you have on hand, but try not to use extra virgin olive oil—leave that stuff for your salad dressings. Unsweetened flaked coconut looks prettier in a granola, but I had the unsweetened shredded stuff in my pantry when I was ready to photograph this recipe; it still works, and it’s still delicious! And it needs not be said, but use whatever nut or seed butter you have on hand! In fact, I have made this granola with tahini instead of the sunflower seed butter I used here and I have added a tablespoon of rosewater to the wet mix for a rose-chai version. I used flaked coconut to the rose-chai granola (instead of its shredded counterpart) and tossed in some edible, dried rose petals after the granola has cooled completely. Not only did the granola look beautiful, it was also delicious! I should really photograph that one sometime!
I used a combination of two sweeteners in this granola: light brown sugar and maple syrup. Use whatever sweetener you have—one solid, one liquid—but personally, maple syrup is a must; I just prefer it over honey in granola.
Chai-Spiced Granola
(makes enough for a 1L-sized mason jar… maybe more)
Ingredients
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (or 2 cups unsweetened flaked coconut)
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup hemp hearts
1/2 cup millet
1/2 cup buckwheat groats
1 tbsp Chai Pie Spice
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp nut or seed butter of your choice (I used sunflower seed butter)
1/3 cup oil of your choice (I used melted coconut oil)
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (optional)
Method
Preheat your oven to 325°F (standard). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the salt, chai spice, nut or seed butter, oil, maple syrup, light brown sugar, and vanilla bean paste and whisk these ingredients thoroughly until a homogenous mixture has been formed.
Toss in your oats, seeds, coconut flakes, and grains and mix thoroughly to ensure that every grain and seed gets evenly coated.
Place the mix on your prepared baking sheet and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, giving the granola a stir after 15 to 20 minutes into the baking process.
Let the granola cool completely before placing in an airtight container or jar. The granola should keep fresh for about a week. It can also be portioned out in airtight containers or freezer bags and frozen for longevity, but I promise you… you won’t need a full week to finish this batch off!
I like this granola on top of plain or vanilla-flavoured yogurt drizzled with a little bit of maple syrup or topped with some fruit preserves of your choice… or even both! It also makes a lovely crunchy topping on top of warm oatmeal. You can also sprinkle a little bit of the chai spice on top for a lovely finish and extra flavour!
See you next time in my kitchen!
xo, Issha