Tahini, Orange Blossom & Amaranth Granola
This oil free, refined sugar free and fragrant granola is aromatic and flavourful and truly delicious. It can easily be made "senza glutine" if Gluten Free Certified Oats are used and nut free if the pistachios are left out. They key to this granola as you may have guessed is the combination of tahini and orange blossom water, a match made in heaven. It's refreshing, comforting and brightens up your morning. It's delicious with plant milk, makes a great crunchy topping to oatmeal or almond butter toast and amazing with a thick greek style yogurt and fresh berries. I
Amaranth is a naturally gluten free pseudograin. It's malty when cooked and light and airy when popped/puffed, which is my favourit way to eat it. It’s not actually a grain, but rather a seed that is used like a grain, much like quinoa, hence why it’s called a pseudograin. It’s from the same family as beets, spinach and swiss chard and has many of the same nutritional characteristics as these vegetables. It's an excellent source of plant protein, particularly the amino acid Lysine, which is not usually found in plants and is also good source of calcium, dietary fiber, B complex vitamins, particularly B6 and Folate, and iron.
Tahini, Orange Blossom & Amaranth Granola
Author Nissrine Boufawaz @ HolisticNiss.com
- Time 30-40 minutes
- Difficulty Easy
- Servings 3 Cups
- Diet vegan, gluten free
- Category Breakfast, Snack
Ingredients:
- 1 C (120g) Rolled Oats (use certified gluten free if necessary)
- 1 1/12 C (90g) Popped/Puffed Amaranth*
- 1/2 Tsp Pure Bourbon Vanilla
- 1/4 C (60ml/75g) Maple Syrup or Raw Honey
- 1/4 C (60ml/70g) Tahini, runny
- 1 Tsp Orange Blossom Water (or Rose Water)
- 1/3 C (50g) Raw Pistachios, chopped or crushed (optional)
- 1/3 C (40g) Dried Cranberries (optional)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180 °C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add oats to the baking sheet and place in the oven on the center rack and toast for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to encourage them to toast on all sides. Alternatively, you can dry toast them on a pan over medium heat on the stove top. This step is essential to a crunchy evenly cooked granola since popped amaranth is very delicate and burns quickly, we're giving the oats a head start.
- Combine toasted rolled oats, popped amaranth, vanilla and pistachios (if using) in a large bowl.
- Combine maple or honey, tahini and orange blossom water until well incorporated.
- Pour liquid mixture over dry mixture and stir with a spatula to combine. It should start to stick together loosely at this point.
- Spread mixture in a single flat compact layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Bake in the bottom third of the oven for about 10 minutes, then give it a stir and return it to oven for 5 minutes, then give it another stir, turn the heat down to 160 °C and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Keep in mind that oven temperatures vary and amaranth is a very tiny seed and tends to burn easily, so keep a close eye on it and adjust baking time as required.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely before stirring in the cranberries (if using) then store in airtight containers for optimal freshness.
Notes
*to pop your own amaranth, place a heavy bottomed pot with a lid over high heat and let it come to temperature. Reduce heat to medium, then add amaranth seeds to the pot 1 tablespoon at a time, cover and let it pop for about 10 seconds, then transfer it to a bowl immediately to prevent burning. Repeat until you have the amount you need. You'll need about 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of raw amaranth to get the 1.5 cups of puffed amaranth for this recipe
*if you can't find amaranth and you need to replace it, your best bets are puffed quinoa or puffed millet, as they are also small. However, millet has a unique flavour that can't be replaced and I strongly recommend you seek it out if you can, your taste buds will thank me.
