Puffed quinoa, puffed rice, dried fruits and nuts granola with peanut butter and petimezi (grape molasses)

A light, not too sweet granola, full of nutty flavors. Crunchy with sticky textures from the dried fruits and crispy from the puffed quinoa and rice.

Published originally on my blog on 19 May 2017

Granola or muesli is what I eat nine out of ten times for breakfast during the weekdays, with milk or yoghurt and some fresh, seasonal fruits. I get bored quite easily when I eat the same thing over and over again so I try to find ways to change my granola and muesli up with different flavor combinations, different grains, nuts and seeds, dried fruits etc.

Lately, I’ve been on a puffed rice/quinoa thing. About a year ago, I discovered them at my health food store and I’ve become a bit obsessed with them and add them to bars and various desserts for texture.

I have incorporated them in my granola and they have transformed it into something lighter and more filling at the same time. Apart from the puffed quinoa and puffed rice, they have walnuts and almonds, dried figs, apricots and raisins, sweetened by a syrup made with petimezi (grape molasses) and soft dark brown sugar. There’s butter in there as well as peanut butter to hold everything together and some ginger and cinnamon that gives the granola aroma and a hint of spice.

You bake it in the oven until it takes on a golden color, no more than ten minutes, and then you can either break it up into large chunks or smaller pieces. I prefer the large, crunchy chunks myself. They’re the best.
It’s a light granola that’s sweet yet not overly so and it’s full of nutty flavors. It’s crunchy with sticky textures from the dried fruits and crispy from the puffed quinoa and rice, and it’s going to make your breakfast by far brighter and tastier.

I also use this granola to make granola bars topped with chocolate ganache!

Puffed quinoa & rice, dried fruits & nuts granola with peanut butter & petimezi (grape molasses)

You can use a mix of puffed quinoa and puffed rice, as I did, or you can use one or the other. You can use date molasses if you can’t find grape molasses.