I am so excited about this recipe! The idea came when I was chatting to Mark about what else we could put in people’s Christmas hampers. He jokingly suggested cereal (he’s a big big fan) but I realised he was on to something! Granola is a prime candidate for adding Christmas flavours like cranberries, cinnamon, nuts and all sorts AND you can make it vegan and gluten free without much extra effort! So today I’m bringing you my version of a Christmas granola that’s both gluten free and vegan!

I’ve injected some serious Christmas into this recipe adding pretty much all of the Christmassy ingredients I could shoehorn in. I’ve used orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice to flavour the granola and then added cranberries, apricots, pistachios, macadamias, and pecans to make a colourful Christmas breakfast!

I’ve made a sizeable batch of this to give to friends and family but also making sure there’s enough for me! I plan to have this for my breakfast on Christmas morning maybe even with warm milk for added wintery cosiness.

For the hamper gifts I’ve popped about 3 cups of granola into each of the presentation bags and tied them with a Christmassy ribbon so that they’re easy to reseal.

And another reminder about my giveaway which is closing at midday this Friday! Find out how you could win some great Opies hamper goodies in GIVEAWAY – Christmas Hamper from Opies Foods!

Ingredients

• 300g gluten free rolled oats
• 200g chopped nuts (pistachios, macademias, pecans)
• 50g mixed seeds
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• ~1/4 whole nutmeg grated
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 100ml maple syrup
• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• Generous pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp light brown sugar
• Zest of about 1/4-1/3 orange
• 150g chopped dried fruit (cranberries, apricots)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
2. Mix together the oats, nuts, seeds and spices.
3. Heat the maple syrup, coconut oil and salt in a saucepan over a low heat until the coconut oil is all melted and everything is combined.
4. Rub together the orange zest and the sugar to bring out the orange flavour and then mix into the warm maple syrup until the sugar has dissolved.
5. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until the oats are evenly covered. Spread them onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and put into the preheated oven to cook for about 35-40 minutes.
6. Take them out to stir about every 10 minutes to make sure they cook evenly.
7. When the granola is cooked, take the tray out and leave to cool before stirring in the dried fruits. Store in an airtight container.

Looking for more Christmas hamper inspiration? Try this Whisky Toddy Lemon Curd or find more ideas.