Going to make my own granola -- suggestions?

desidiabulum said:

Hi all.
The Diabetes Breakfast Dilemma: I don't care for cooked breakfasts, so generally have berries and yoghurt. The task is to keep making it interesting, so i usually sprinkle a bit of granola on as well. But all the commercially produced granola -- even that which flaunts itself as Low GI -- tends to contain sugar, syrup etc, so i have decided to produce my own. I know that some of you out there must already be doing this. Do people have any recipes that they would recommend?

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Hi Desidiabulum,

I was thinking along the same lines. I recently tried porridge (Jumbo rolled oats), but found a 30g portion spiked me more than I would have liked. So, I was thinking I could use the oats to make a granola to have with yoghurt.

To the oats, I'm thinking of adding toasted coconut (Holland & Barrett - £1.85 for 200g)
Chopped mixed nuts - almonds, pistachios hazelnuts perhaps
Some seeds - perhaps pumpkin, sunflower, flax
and anything else I can think of!!

I haven't considered quantities of each yet, but it will depend on carbs etc., in each.
I bought some agave syrup (low GI) a while back, but haven't used it yet as I read bad things about it..

I've still got to assemble all the ingredients for my granola - I think I might pop into H&B tomorrow and pick up a few things, as I've discovered they have fruit spreads with ~30g carbs per 100g - less than half of the average jam. Wild Blueberry looks good which might mean jam on low-carb toast could be on the menu for brekky too!

Here's one I'm thinking of trying:

Take 1 cup of almonds finely chopped; half a cup each of walnuts and macadamia nuts, finely chopped; 1 cup each of sunflower seeds, flaxseed, and dessicated coconut; mix all together in a large bowl.

Take 1 teaspoon mild honey (e.g. acacia) and mix into 3 tablespoons of hot water. Add half a cup of almond oil.

Mix everything together, and spread on a large baking sheet. Put in the oven on a low heat to completely dry out. Leave overnight to cool and dry more.

Sounds good to me.

Hi Desi!

I hope you're well. I've made granola a couple of times. It's dead easy and tastes good but you need to keep a close eye on the carb content - it can sneak up to similar to the shop bought one's if you don't control the portions of the different ingredients carefully.

Basically, I use a mix of different nuts and seeds chopped up in a bowl. Add some unsweetened flaked coconut - not dessicated as that's sugary and bitty. Add some jumbo rolled oats. The trick is to add enough oats to stop the granola being just nuts and seeds , but remember that it's the oats that force up the carbs the most. Stir in a tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of DaVinci sugar free sweetening syrup. Mix it all together, spread it on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 180, stirring occasionally and watching to make sure it doesn't burn.

It's a trial and error to get a mix you like that doesn't impact your BG too much. I keep my experimental granola recipe in a spreadsheet so I can alter the amounts and see what it does to the carb content. I still only have a sprinkling of it on my yoghurt and berries though!

The commercial brand I've had most success with is Dorset Cereal's Honey Granola. It still spikes me but less than any others I've tried.

Smidge

desidiabulum said:

Oh dear, Smidge -- breakfast on a spreadsheet -- I see the logic, but ... :crazy:

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Ahem yes, it is a little crazy :lol:

This was my latest effort:


Jumbo oats 10g (6g carb)
Flaked almonds 15g (1g carb)
Mixed nuts (Tesco mixed bag of brazil, almond, hazelnuts, walnuts) 35g (1.9g carb)
Sunflower seeds 5g (0.9g carb)
Pumpkin seeds 10g (0.6g carb)
Linseed 5g (0.7g carb)
Coconut flakes 5g (0.3 g carb)
Honey 20g (15g carb)
DaVinci Sugar-free Vanilla Syrup 1Tbs (0g carb)
Total 26.4g
Portions 5.0
Portion 5.3g carb

So, as you can see, it's still fairly high carb per 100g (about 27g carb per 100g). I think the honey could maybe be adjusted downwards without affecting the overall flavour. I'd like to save a few carbs so that I could mix in some 85% cocoa chocolate shavings! I'll test the carb effect of that in my spreadsheet later :lol: :lol:

Smidge

As long as it's a runny honey it'll work fine. I don't think the set honey would work as well. I always check the ingredients and carb content of honey carefully because the carb content can differ enormously between types and brands and some of the leading brands mix sugar (sucrose) into the honey to make it cheaper - they have to declare this on the label! The whole point of using honey rather than sugar is because honey has a far lower GI and is usually kinder to BG, so having sugar in it completely defeats the purpose. I've actually got pure English honey from the Littleover Apiary company at the moment. I tend to get honey, coconut flakes, jumbo oats and most other stuff for granola from Healthy Supplies - you'll find it if you Google it. (Not sure if I'm allowed to give the URL).

Smidge

Maybe acacia honey was recommended because it very mild and unobtrusive. Any type would do if you like it. Dessicated coconut from supermarkets isn't sweetened, it's fine.