The perfect granola (smells like apple pie)

I realise there are many recipes for granola and selection in the shops is quite wide however I will give you this recipe, perhaps someone will be inspired and make homemade granola, this perfect one.  Some of those I have made before were too sweet, some of the shop bought contain ingredients that I try to avoid in my diet such as glucose syrup very common in mass produced food, responsible for diabetics and gaining weight in large number of Americans and vegetable oil that quite often happens to be palm oil - quite controversial - when produced causes deforestation in Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. If I can avoid it why shouldn't I? I make my own granola. 

House smells like apple pie, in the morning I have quick, healthy and filling breakfast ready within seconds and it makes me really happy first thing in the morning, specially when I do not have a time to cook anything else. Only my cat is not very happy when I take him off my knees every 10 minutes to stir the granola in the oven.

1½ cup rolled oats

1½ cup spelt flakes

handful of almonds, roughly chopped

2 tbsp linseed

1 tbsp sesame seeds

3 tbsp sunflower seeds

3 tbsp pumpkin seeds

about 300ml natural apple juice (preferably freshly pressed, or organic natural, cloudy shop bought juice)

5 tbsp vegetable oil such as sunflower oil, grape seed oil or rapeseed oil 

2 tbsp honey

4 tbsp agave syrup (I used raw)

1 tbsp cinnamon

pinch of ground ginger 

pinch of salt

2 handfuls of currants

Heat the oven to 140 C (fan).

In a large bowl mix the oats, spelt flakes, almonds, sesame seeds, linseed, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, ginger and salt.

In separate bowl mix oil, juice, honey and agave syrup.

Mix dry ingredients with the wet ones thoroughly and place on the baking trays lined with baking paper. Place in the oven.  

Bake the granola for about 1 to 1 ¼ hours, depends on how thin the layer of the granola is – the thicker it is the longer it will take to bake it.

Stir granola every 10 minutes, so it bakes thoroughly and evenly. After 1 hour open the oven, turn it off and leave granola to cool down slightly. Next add the currants, mix well and leave it to cool down completely.

Store granola in an airtight container. I love it with hot or cold milk, natural yoghurt or just on its own as a snack. I the summer I love it with seasonal fruits such as strawberries, blueberries or raspberries.