December 13

It’s amazing how quickly cravings and habits form. I remember when we went to Asia and I started eating curry, fish and rice for breakfast. At first, my stomach would turn. I was used to milk and sugary cereal. It was so strange. After just a few days though, I started looking forward to my roti canai, and later to my miso soup, rice and pickled vegetables. These days I am pretty much on an oatmeal kick. Oddly enough I love to add some granola to my oatmeal. I know it is an oat-on-oat situation but I love the contrast between the crunchy texture and toasty flavour of granola along with the other seeds and nuts that I also add to my bowl. So, having granola in the house is always a good thing in my book. I try to change up the spices, nuts and fruit that I put in my granola (got to keep breakfast exciting!) and this time I decided to make a second batch of granola based on Local Milk’s recipe. Her granola is the clumpiest that I have ever made. While I love muesli-esque granola, there is something special about the texture of granola clumps (does anyone know what I mean? Maybe because they are usually pretty hard to achieve?). Using her recipe as a base, I decided to make gingerbread granola: deeply spiced, molasses-y, filled with pecans, and dried blueberries and cranberries. It’s the perfect accompaniment to my oatmeal on snowy winter mornings.


As I said before, if you want clumpy granola, this recipe will not disappoint. The most important thing to keep in mind is to flip the granola using a spatula (in large chunks) and press it down into a solid layer. After you take the granola out of the oven, resist the urge to stir it. Let it sit and cool and then break it apart into chunks, once it’s cool and hardened. This granola is so clumpy that you can literally break off a piece and eat it like a crunchy granola bar.


On top of the out of this world texture, the flavour is deeply warming and satisfying. The spices and molasses make this granola taste like winter in a bite. If we lived in the movies, this gingerbread granola should be eaten sitting by a fireplace, wearing cozy clothes and sipping on a huge mug of hot chocolate. I also love the caramel notes in the toasted pecans that pair perfectly with the gingerbread flavour. I love to add some chewy dried fruit to my granola and the dried blueberries and cranberries are the perfect wintery choice. They add a punch of sweetness and color. Also, if you like crystallized ginger, this is the perfect place to add it. I didn’t stir mine in because it’s not my partner’s favorite but I sprinkled some onto mine, and I can attest to how well it goes with the other spices in the granola. I am sure I will be getting through this batch in no time flat: it’s going in my oatmeal, my yogurt and will be eaten by the handful as a snack whenever the craving strikes.