Cinnamon Buckwheat Pecan Granola

Granola is one of life's simple pleasures. From the smell that fills the kitchen when it's cooking, to the cacophony of crunches as you eat it, to the heavenly taste of toasted titbits, it's a treat to every sense in the body - and it's so simple to make too. 
Of course, it's a danger to have around my house, seeing as my father appears to be a descendant of this little guy:

Unfortunately, ordinary almonds are not as evasive as Scrat's adored acorn, and the nut count of my granola tends to diminish at a disproportionate rate. Leaving it to cool is the most treacherous part of the process. No nut is safe. I'm even considering calling in Rodent Control to help me contain this problem. 

This is my favourite recipe at the moment - I love the texture added by the buckwheat and I'm a tad obsessed with wrinkly ole pecans. Feel free to use whatever nuts you like though - cashews and walnuts also taste great in this recipe!

Ingredients
300g oats (use gluten-free ones if you wish)
150g buckwheat groats
50g desiccated coconut
100g pecans
100g whole almonds
100g flaked almonds
100g pumpkin and sunflower seeds
2 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp coconut oil
4 tbsp honey/maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g cranberries or sultanas
50g goji berries

Method
1. Put the oats, buckwheat, coconut, nuts, seeds and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and mix together.

2. Melt the coconut oil and honey together in the microwave. Add to the mixing bowl along with the vanilla extract and mix well.

3. Spread the granola on a baking tray and bake at 150 degrees for 15-20 minutes, turning regularly to ensure it toasts evenly.

4. Remove from oven and add the cranberries and goji berries. Allow to cool (under a watchful eye, if you too have a Scrat infestation in your house ;) )

Enjoy for breakfast with banana and almond milk, as a mid-day snack or even as dessert with some fruit, cacao nibs and coconut yogurt :) 

Pear and Almond Buckwheat Scones

If you think this sounds familiar, you're right - the first recipe I posted to this blog was one for pear scones. It's a favourite scone flavour of mine (then again, every scone flavour is my favourite. #sconelife) 

Here, I've adapted the recipe to make a gluten-free version with buckwheat flour, simply because I felt like experimenting and I'm always interested in trying different varieties of scones. Buckwheat flour is really fine, so be careful when adding the liquid - don't add it all in one go or things will get very sticky very quickly (ahem).

Pear and Almond Buckwheat Scones

Ingredients

2 and 1/2 cups buckwheat flour

1/2 cup ground almonds

50g caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

100g butter (I use Flora)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg 

100ml buttermilk

2 ripe pears, peeled, cored and chopped

flaked almonds to top

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees (200 degrees fan oven). Allow the oven to heat up fully - this helps the scones to rise. Sprinkle some flour on a baking tray. 

2. Mix the buckwheat flour, ground almonds, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. 

3. Add the butter and, using your fingertips, rub it into the flour mixture until it resembles dry breadcrumbs. Try not to handle it too much. 

4. Crack the egg into a mixing jug and beat with a fork. Add the buttermilk up to the 120 ml mark.

5. Pour about 2/3s of this into your dry ingredients. Add the vanilla extract and the chopped pears.

6. Bring the mix together with your hand. You can add more of the liquid as you need it, but keep a little bit to use as a glaze at the end. 

7. Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and roll it out to a 4-5cm thickness. Using a scone cutter, cut out your scones and place them on to the baking tray.

8. Brush the tops of the scones with your left-over egg mix and sprinkle some flaked almonds on top. 

9. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden-brown. 

10. Smother with jam and pair with tea. Amen.