Slow roasted apple and rosehip granola

To me there is no better breakfast than a crunchy granola. Especially in summer, served with cold yoghurt and berries.

Making your own is both fun, simple and gives you the power to decide exactly what’s in it. And once it is made and sits in a jar on your kitchen counter it becomes your best breakfast friend (ok, sometimes lunch and evening snack too) for the next week or so.

I’ve made granolas in numerous different ways, switching ingredients according to season and mood. But lately I’ve felt that there were things that could be perfected and made better. For example I’ve accidentally burned my granola a few times, and I also wanted to try and get more crunch than I usually get.

So I thought to myself, perhaps slow roasting would be the difference I was looking for?

And do you know what? Slow roasting will without any doubt be the one and only way to make granola in this house from now on. Perfect crunch and no burning even without stirring. It does take a few hours, but since the temperature is so low you can easily leave the house for an hour or so and the granola won’t burn.

I was also looking for a different way of sweetening my granola. I always use some kind of natural sweetener, and while both honey and maple syrup are great I was a bit tired of always using the same things. I have also used a combo of apple syrup/honey previously, but this time I thought I’d try with apple syrup only. And it turned out great! Better than I could have dreamed of actually.

Another ‘secret’ and anonymous little ingredient that really makes this special is rosehip powder. I had a bag sitting in my pantry that never seemed to be used enough, so I thought I’d use it to add flavor (and vitamin C) here.

In fact apple syrup and rose hip powder are the big stars of this granola. So do try to get hold of them, or make your own when apples and rosehips are in season in about a month (in Scandinavia).

We also picked the first blueberries last week (happy dance!), so naturally we have everything with blueberries at the moment. However this granola is actually so great you can enjoy it totally on its own with some yoghurt. Or for variation – add seasonal berries or compotes.

Enjoy and happy summer! Be back soon.

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Printable recipe
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Slow roasted apple and rosehip granola

2 cups thick cut rolled oats
2 cups instant rolled oats
4 tbsp rosehip powder
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
3/4 cup flaxseeds
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6 tbsp rapeseed oil
6 tbsp apple syrup
3/4 tsp sea salt
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2 handfuls (150 g) of hazelnuts
1 handful of dried apples

1) Preheat the oven to 85° C (185° F) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2) Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl whisk together oil, apple syrup and sea salt.
3) Combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix well with your hands or a wooden spoon to coat everything.
4) Spread the granola mixture evenly over the baking tray. Pop into the oven and roast for about 4 hours. Just give it a good stir a couple of times during that time.
5) Add hazelnuts and dried apples and roast for 1 more hour. This ensures that the hazelnuts won’t get too dry and when adding dried fruit towards the end you’ll get that slightly chewy and caramelized fruit texture.
6) Switch off the heat and leave the baking tray in the oven to dry completely while the oven cools.
7) When completely cool, store in an airtight jar for up to a month.

TIP! I used a combo of instant and thick cut rolled oats here for more crunch, but you could also use instant oats only (or any other flakes that you have at hand). I tried to make this as ‘Swedish’ (or Nordic if you prefer) as possible so I used rapeseed oil which is commonly used here, but you can use e.g. extra virgin coconut oil if you prefer.