The Bakinglady 

Every now and then I will go on a bit of a healthy eating spurt (normally the first few weeks in the new year after I have eaten a ton and a half of chocolate and over indulged in too much fine red wine and a mammoth amount of turkey  and where I try and cut down on all the processed-mass-produced rubbish entering my mouth. I replace fat laden fried breakfasts with this gorgeous, crunchy homemade Granola, absolutely jam packed with dried fruits and nuts and infused with orange zest and a hint of cinnamon. I simply spoon some over creamy low fat Greek yogurt and some juicy fresh fruit..... It’s the only conscious healthy eating mantra that I carry over throughout the rest of the year it tastes that good and is especially tasty mid morning when instead of reaching for a cardboard tasting snack bar you munch on a little bag of this instead.

What you need

250g oats

100g desiccated coconut

50g pumpkin seeds

50g sunflower seeds

20g sesame seeds

100g almonds (in their skins) cut in half lengthways

75g shelled pistachios

25g oat bran

2 heaped teaspoons of ground cinnamon

100g dried apricots chopped

30g crystallised stem ginger, chopped

50g dried cranberries

70g dried banana chips

Zest of 2 large oranges

Syrup

100g soft light brown sugar

150g butter

275g golden syrup

What you do

Preheat the oven to 200c or 180c for a fan oven.

Place the oats, oat bran, coconut, pistachios, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and cinnamon into a large roasting tin and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, tossing and turning the ingredients every 5 minutes then remove from the oven.

Meanwhile make the syrup

Place the butter, sugar and golden syrup into a large non-stick saucepan and melt the ingredients together then boil rapidly for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and tip the oat mixture into it, stir thoroughly to coat the ingredients evenly then tip it back into your roasting tin and place back into the oven to caramelise and crisp up for a further 10 minutes, making sure you stir it well after 5 minutes.

Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before adding in the orange zest, cranberries, crystallised stem ginger, chopped apricots and the banana chips.

Leave to cool completely before breaking up and storing in a airproof container or jar.

Serve with a big dollop of creamy, thick yogurt and some juicy fresh fruit such as mango or watermelon. I have also added all the soft fruit, orange zest and banana chips as soon as the tray comes out of the oven before compacting it down with the back of the spoon then cutting into small bars before allowing it to cool. They make fabulous additions to any packed lunch and will keep you going until lunchtime