Makes about 18 circles

Suitable for age 2 and older

Ingredients:

• Handful of dried fruit like pitted dates, apricots, raisins or cranberries 

• 1/2 cup mixed nuts and/ or seeds (like walnuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds and flaxseeds)

• 2 cups rolled oats

• 1 tbsp of smooth nut butter of choice (like peanut or almond butter)

• Additional ingredients (optional) to add to your taste (like 1/2 tsp cinnamon or 3tbsp of desiccated coconut)

Method

1. Boil a small amount of water in the kettle and preheat the oven to 180degreesC.

2. Finely chop your dried fruit. Add to a dish and cover with boiling water. Allow to stew while you continue the next steps.

3. Blend half your mixed nuts and seeds until a fine ground texture. Keep the other half for later.

4. Add the oats, stewed fruits, ground mixed nuts/ seeds, nut butter and any additional ingredients to a large mixed bowl. Mix well to fully combine. You may need to add a dash more boiling water here to help combine.

5.  For half the mixture (batch for younger children): Take a tablespoon of mixture, and portion into a non-stick cupcake baking tray. Push down well so it sticks together.

6. For the other half (batch for older children and adults): Roughly chop the rest of the nuts, and add into the mixture, alongside any other seeds or whole dried fruits or flavours you would like. Again, take a tablespoon and portion into the baking tray.

   → Top tip: If using the same tray, I like to add whole nuts to the top of this batch to make sure I don’t get confused about which ones are for who!

   7. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. Then use the back of a spoon to flip them upside down to stop the tops from burning. Put back in the oven for another 5 to allow them to cook through. They should be still soft and just starting to go golden when removed from the oven.

   8. Carefully remove the circles from the tray and place them on a cooling rack. Once cooled, they are ready to enjoy!

Recipe tips!

• Make this appropriate for younger children by blending the dried fruit paste, and adding in extra water as needed to ensure the texture is smooth and manageable.

• You don’t have to split the recipe in two (one for young children, and one for those who are older) – it is just an option if you prefer your snacks with some extra texture with just one more step. But if you have limited time, just skip the extra step (6), and make the whole batch with finely ground ingredients (step 3)!

• If you don’t want to make 18 of these, what I do is make 12, and then spread the extra ingredients out on a baking tray. Put this in at the same time as the circles. At the 10-minute timer, mix it up, and place it back in for the extra 5 minutes – and you’ve just made granola for the next few days!