As you’ll probably see from the title, I was incredibly lucky to get to work with Great British Bake Off’s Nadiya in my very own kitchen, filmed for her latest series on BBC2, Nadiya’s Family Favourites. I still can’t quite get my head around how this all happened but what an amazing opportunity it’s been!

If you missed the episode, watch it again HERE 🙂

Back in April, while I was on holiday with my family in Majorca, I was approached by a production company via Twitter (another reason why I bloody love this platform). This lead onto an email and a phonecall and it was only at this point they mentioned that they were working on a TV series with the one and only Nadiya… I was like, hang on a minute! They wanted someone who created healthy recipes and has a family themselves and somehow, after a few more calls, they decided to go ahead with me. We flew back on the Sunday they came to film on the Tuesday, meaning I had a very busy couple of days prepping and trialling the recipes – very nerve wracking but exciting too!

The focus of this particular episode is ‘healthy breakfasts for the family’ – especially when so many cereals and breakfast products on the market contain so much refined sugar and can be rather expensive, I was requested to create a basic granola recipe which could be batch made ready for the week, and easily customiseable so the whole family can enjoy it. Healthy granola energy bars were also on the list, an option for those who need to grab something quick but satisfying and packed with good ingredients.

It was a non-stop day of filming back at our old flat in Manchester (we now live in a house in Prestwich), James very kindly took the day off work to look after Thomas so I could do this fantastic project, and Nadiya was just brilliant to work with. Charismatic, entertaining and a strong woman who knows what she wants with plenty of stories to tell, the crew were great and we just about managed to film everything in the time frame we had – it always takes so much longer than you think!

I thought I’d share the recipes below so for anyone who watched the programme and is interested in trying them at home, here you go!

Basic Granola Recipe

Ingredients:

• 200g rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 150ml maple syrup or honey
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Get making!

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C and line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Mix together the oats and cinnamon in a bowl.
3. Pour in the maple syrup/honey, melted coconut oil and vanilla and mix well to combine.
4. Spread this mixture out on the tray in a single later and bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure it is baked evenly.
5. Leave to cool in the tin to allow to set and go crunchy – then tip into a large jar and add your favourite dried fruit, seeds and nuts. Keeps for up to 2 weeks

Some combination ideas!

CHUNKY MONKEY: Dates, walnuts, banana chips, cacao nibs, pecans, dark chocolate chunks
TROPICAL: Dried mango, goji berries, coconut chips
APPLE PIE: Dried apple, raisins, flaked almonds
APRICOT BLUEBERRY DELIGHT: Dried apricot, dried blueberries, mixed seeds

Healthy Granola Bars

Ingredients:

• 250g rolled oats
• 50g seeds (e.g. pumpkin, sunflower)
• 50g flaked almonds
• 100g maple syrup or honey
• 6 tablespoons nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew…whatever your preference)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 10 dates + 100ml boiling water
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 100g dried fruit & nuts of choice

Get making!

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease and line a 9x9in baking tin.
2. Mix together the oats, seeds and almonds and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes to allow to toast.
3. Gently melt the maple syrup/honey and nut butter to form a thick sauce.
4. Soak the dates in the boiling water for 10 minutes then add to a blender along with the melted maple syrup and nut butter mixture and blend well until thick and smooth.
5. Add in the toasted oat mixture along with the cinnamon and your dried fruit/nuts/seeds and mix well to combine.
6. Spread into the tin evenly and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool in the tin to set then cut into 9-12 bars. Enjoy! Keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.