Easy Pina Colada Granola Recipe
The sun is finally out in the UK which means I’m instantly craving refreshing salads and tropical flavours. I might not be going on holiday this year, but I’ll be pretending I am every morning with this easy tropical granola served with some yoghurt and fresh fruit. Traditional granola often includes orange juice, but here we’re using a little pineapple juice as the base of our Pina Colada flavour combined with both desiccated and flaked coconut to get the flavour of Del Boy’s favourite cocktail.
This is a light and crunchy granola that will set you up for the day. The great thing about making granola is that you can use up any random bit of nuts or dried fruit that you have from other recipes. Simply add the oats and nuts at the beginning and any seeds and dried fruit at the end. What could be simpler?
Here I’ve used date syrup which makes the granola a little darker than usual but you can use honey or another syrup of your choice.
HOW TO MAKE TROPICAL GRANOLA
Skill: Easy!
Time: 40mins + cooling
Serves: 14 servings approx
INGREDIENTS
40g Butter
85g Honey OR Date Syrup OR agave
50ml pineapple juice
1tsp vanilla bean paste
85g blanched almond (see how to make them in the notes)
50g desiccated coconut
160g jumbo oats
60g coconut flakes
40g goji berries
20g chia seeds
20g linseeds
30g sultanas (optional)
You can also add any other dried fruits you want to add. It’s your granola so add what you like!
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan and prep a large baking tray. In a small saucepan melt the butter, pineapple juice, honey/syrup and vanilla on a gently heat until fully combined.
To a large bowl add your oats, nuts and dedicated coconut and then pour over the butter & syrup mixture and stir so it’s all coated. Spread the mixture onto the baking tray and bake for 30 minutes string it up every 10 minutes or so.
Once it’s cooked, leave it to cool (it will crisp up as it cools) and then add in the remaining dried fruit, seeds and flaked coconut.
Enjoy with fresh fruit and yoghurt or with ice-cold milk. This will keep for a few weeks in an airtight container.
NOTES
This would also be great with other dried fruits like mango or banana chips. Use your creativity/leftovers here!
Blanched almonds are simply peeled almonds. You don’t need to rush out and buy blanched ones if you already have whole almonds in the house. Simply boil them in hot water for one minute then rinse in cold water and the nuts will pop out of their skins when you give them a gentle squeeze. Careful though as they can go flying!
I have used date syrup here as that’s what I had in the house but I would usually use honey or agave for something like this It adds a nice deep colour to the granola so if you’re using honey or a lighter syrup yours will look lighter than in my picture.
If you don’t like desiccated coconut, don’t panic as it dries out in the cooking process and you don’t get that texture some people don’t like in the end result.