Do you remember when I made Peanut Butter Granola? I do. Partly because it was delicious, and partly because I was thrilled to discover that both a fellow blogger and my officemate have made (and professed to love) it.
If you come closer, though, I’ll tell you a little secret.
Closer than that. Closer.
Hush, now. Are you ready?
I like the granola in this post even better than the peanut butter one. Possibly even seventy-four times better.
I know this is shocking to hear. And maybe you won’t agree with me; maybe for you, peanut butter will always win out. I am, however, tempted to get down on my knees and beg you to give this recipe a try, if only because it’s the first recipe I’ve made up entirely on my own, and I’m flabbergasted at how well it turned out.
That said, if you only like granola that is cloyingly-sweet, unimaginative, uncomplicated, and (let’s face it) akin to the processed-sugar versions found in supermarkets, then you might want to move along.
Because this spiced fig, pepita, and molasses granola is intense, seductive, and refuses to play second fiddle to anything it’s accompanied by. Oatmeal, yoghurt, ice-cream… they’ll only ever be the supporting actors.
In addition, if I were to translate the taste of this granola into a scene, it would look like this:
Night-time. A clearing at the outskirts of a forest, with the flickering orange-white-red-orange of tiny bonfires shimmering and crackling around you in a pattern that you can’t quite understand. Smoke and haze curl up against your face and low voices murmur stories you aren’t allowed to hear, while glimmering fabric catches, then shakes off, the light of the fires as women dance in the darkness in front of you. The thrill of an exoticism you long for but can’t reach envelops you, and you close your eyes to remember dark eyes and skin that smells like smoke…
Mercy! What is this, Mills and Boon?!
*ahem*
In less, well, wanky* terms, this granola is a heavenly, blows-my-mind amalgamation of flavours. No one spice or ingredient overpowers the others, and as a result each bite is a complex blend of spices, dark sweetness, nuttiness, toasted-ness and, well, did I mention the blows-my-mind bit? As you can see from the photos I added the figs at the beginning, and I must admit they burnt a little. Funny thing is, I actually liked the slightly-burnt flavour, as it reminded me of Maggie Beer’s Burnt Fig Jam. However, in the recipe I’ve instructed you to add the figs in the final stages of baking. Whatever floats your boat.
Last, but not least, I made this granola in honour of Conor, who nagged me incessantly (that might be a slight exaggeration) to make something with figs in it. 
Spiced Fig, Pepita, and Molasses Granola, or The Tall Dark and Handsome Granola of Your Dreams
Definitely worth doubling or tripling. I tend to make my granolas in small amounts so that I can finish them quickly and make more with different flavours, but I wish I’d made at least four times the amount of this.
- 1 1/3 cups (120g) rolled oats (not instant)
- 1/2 cup (60g) pepitas
- 1 1/2 tb (30ml) muscovado (or brown) sugar, firmly packed
- 1 1/2 tb (30ml) molasses
- 1 tb sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1/3 cup (70g) dried figs, chopped
- Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F). Mix oats and pepitas in a bowl.
- In a separate, larger bowl, whisk together the sugar, molasses, sesame oil, spices, and almond extract. Tip the oats and pepitas into the wet ingredients and stir well to combine.
- Spread this granola mix onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then take out and stir the granola to avoid its edges burning.
- Tip in the chopped figs and stir through, then put granola back in the oven for another 8-10 minutes, until starting to look toasted. Remember, the granola will crisp up as it cools.
- Eat multiple handfuls from the baking tray as the granola cools, then package up the rest and post it to me. Thanks ever so!
* Sorry Grandma.
{ 67 comments… read them below or add one }
You know what makes me happiest about this recipe? I have all the ingredients in my kitchen right now! (Well, except for the dried figs, but they abound in this neighborhood, so it would probably only take five minutes to get them.) (I think I would be inclined to let the figs burn a little bit, too.) (I just really wanted a third parenthetical. I don’t know why.)
(Because brackets are cool.)
Do let me know if you make this! I desperately want confirmation that it is tasty and I’m not leading everyone astray
Oh, and if you do pop out to buy figs… don’t get distracted by a pistachio l’escargot pastry, m’kay?
I just never know whether my tastebuds love you or my waist hates you!!
Looks amazing, will try this week…think NB won’t be getting any this time!
I hope it’s more on the side of love
And NB might not like this as much if he’s used to super-sweet American granola!
It’s love!! My mum would adore this, might have to make her some for Christmas…and I think it’s about time NB made ME breakfast!!
oh that granola does look amazing – nice work!
Thanks! It kinda is fantastic
Seventy Four times better hey? I better give it a try!
Yep, you must. Maybe you’ll think it’s seventy-SIX times better!
Sounds awesoem.
I ate too much granola for my afternoon snack yesterday and am still paying for it. Too many nuts!
That’s why you should make this one! No nuts! And if you’re averse to seeds too, you could just add in more dried fruit. Wheeeee!
Love you so frikkin’ much for creating this.
The inclusion of sesame oil makes me especially happy. I loves me some sesame oil.
And molasses.
And spices.
And figs.
And almond extract.
GH(&TYAIGSuihuisg. MAN. You are so my ideal woman.
I just ordered Angus a bunch of custom mueslis online. Gluten free. If he’s gonna be a wheatard, I at least want him to have cool muesli, not that boring styrofoam bullshit I’ve seen him eating. I made him ‘summer’ and ‘winter’ editions. He better appreciate it. But no biggie if not… I included lots of things I like, so will happily take it off his hands if need be!
I love how you are both the most selfless and seflish girlfriend in the world. Which makes you perfectly balanced, in my opinion. Gosh, is he still pulling the wheatard stunt? I thought he was going to give up on that once you gave him the attention he was craving?
Also, I just wish I could be the ideal of woman of someone who isn’t already embroiled in a serious relationship with Angus.
P.S. This really is stupendously tasty.
This sounds SO cool. Nice one inventing a recipe, it’s a good feeling, right? I feel it would make one extremely sexy breakfast (oh dear, those vowel sounds meant I nearly typed sexy brexy).
I think we should make sexy brexy happen. It sounds almost Broadway-ish, which I’m sure is why it appeals to you and me
And yep, it’s a fantastic feeling! If only I had the skills to do it more often, like you…
I love all the ingredients. I have not seen a granola with spice fig. What an great ingredient and recipe.
Thank you! It’s really tasty as well
I love figs (because, not-so-coincidentally, I love seedy stuff. See also: raspberries, blackberries, naughty-and-often-tasteless innuendo), yet almost never eat them. But I have an unopened package in my pantry. Hrm…
The lure of PB IS awfully hard to resist, though.
I’m trying to decide whether the two granola recipes could be combined, but I think the intensity of the spices and sesame oil here would drown out the peanut butter. Unless… you made oatmeal and topped it with a huge spoonful of peanut butter and then this granola?
Also, I’ve been stressing about the bloggie swap… I fear if I send the package now it won’t reach you before you move, but can I send it to your OK hotel? Or are you not interested at the moment, because you’ll be so swept up in the raw food? You might not have time for any of these goodies!
Aw, goodness, don’t stress! I think we could do one of two things. 1) You could still send it to my home, because I’ll be there every 2-3 weeks at most, or 2) We can wait until January (which might give me time to procure YOU some especially cool things). What do ya think?
Hmm. January wouldn’t be a very good time because that’s slap-bang in the super-heat of Summer here, which means the vegan white chocolate might not get to you intact. I might send yours sometime in the next month or so, if you don’t think 105 will make you completely bored by the package, but if you wanted to wait until next year for my part that’s ABSOLUTELY fine! I know how busy you are with organising anything. My birthday is in May, so that could always be the planned time
ok I WILL be making this once my two recent batches are gone. I should probably go and take care of that now… *goes off to eat the granola so I can justify making this amazing looking recipe*…
I LOVE figs! Thanks Hannah, you’re a granola rock star.
Heidi xo
Oh Heidi, you just made my day! I’ve never even come close to being a rock star of any description. I think I need to make a shirt with that written on it
Please please let me know what you think if you try the recipe!
Yuum, this sounds good. I may have to get some figs and molasses to enter my granola-repertoire…
I’m still waiting to hear about the okara granola!
74 times better
Wow.., that’s sayin’ something.
Go hard or go home, right?
I love making homemade granola … and figs with molasses … yum!!
I’ve only just discovered how fantastical homemade granola is, and now I’m both addicted to the taste and the process of it!
yummm!! shall have to make this… your pictures are making me drool!
I couldn’t ask for more than that!
Oh, I think I’ll be one of the many making muesli this weekend. Sorry I can’t call it Granola, it seems too American a term to me, although it does bring Crunchy Granola Suite to mind (are you too young, are your parents daggy enough to have educated you?). Still it does sound absolutely fantastic. I think I will do some modifications though, some of necessity- I don’t have any molasses in the cupboard, but do have treacle and litres of maple syrup. Also I’m doing a low GI diet at the moment, and whilst figs are only medium GI, I think I’ll replace them with low GI apples or prunes. And some changes for fun- whilst I do love cinnamon and cardamon, I have a packet of Herbie’s Quartre Epices- Sweet (allspice, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon) burning a hole in my pantry. So it won’t be quite Your Muesli, but Inspired By. Oh, I want to make it now. The weekend seems too far away.
My parents are daggy but apparently not that daggy
Feel free to call it muesli, but to me muesli and granola are fundamentally different products. But you can call it a banana if it means you’ll try it! You might like to up the sugar, though 
Switch the molasses for maple syrup and double it, maybe? And with your spices… ah, this is the magic of granola/muesli, isn’t it? The adaptability…
Oh, and prunes? You’ll like the *next* granola I have up my sleeve (which I’m eating right now, actually!)
How are muesli and granola different? I always thought they were the same thing. I know you can have toasted and untoasted muesli, is granola only toasted? Can’t wait to see what you’re doing with the prunes.
Sadly, this isn’t original footage, but it gives the background, and you’ll get the idea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEDLnoOlvmI
(you need to play it til at least 1.45 to get the riff, don’t give up too early)
I shall have to wait a few days to watch that, as video clips absolutely *kill* my mobile internet stick thingy.
Granola is always toasted, with added sugar and oil and is often clumpy and a lot more decadent. I tend to think of it this way… granola = dessert-y, muesli = roughage-y.
But you can conflate the two if you must!
hehe if I nag you incessantly to make something will you send me a batch of it?
Hmm… I might make it and then eat it myself!
Or I could make it and you could come visit me in Canberra and *then* I’ll give you whatever it is you’re hankering for 
Whoa, best granola ever and it’s made in my honour? HURRAH!!
Hooray for granola, hooray for figs, and hooray for you!
I am however SORELY disappointed with your Mills & Boon paragraph. Where is the wiggle-whining and slipping of snakes onto boobs???
*flaps hands around in air before me* Oh Conor! I can’t even express in writing how much your comment has delighted me. I had momentarily, and unforgivably, forgotten about that glorious piece of wordsmithery. Oh, heavens! I have so, so far to go in creating my romantic words of wonderment!
Wiggle-whining! Wiggle-whining!
And really… hooray for you! Couldn’t've done it without you
Dark and handsome? Can I marry it? Figs, muscovado sugar and molasses are all so high up in my list of loves that I think we would live happily ever after. What do you think?!
By the way, because I am lazy I haven’t made your peanut butter granola yet either but it is definitely on the list…
You’ll have to fight me for it! Or we could share, Mormon-style? By the by, laziness is a pretty silly excuse when these granolas take about ten minutes to stir together
I will, however, take “making a vegan caramel pie” as a valid excuse
I’m not that good at sharing so I guess we’ll have to fight! I have vegan caramel pie in my freezer and it’s calling me but I was told dessert was being made for me tonight so perhaps I should wait…or perhaps I should have pie for dinner. Hmmm…
Oh I would so love to come visit on my trip but the whole time is pretty much mapped out for us (biking, biking, biking, maybe some more biking, no wait, more biking…). Sigh. I don’t even want to begin to think about how sore my arse is going to be by the end (and consequently how grumpy I’m going to be on the flight home and I pity the poor soul having to sit next to me on the plane).
Well, I’m out. I lack the competitive gene when it comes to romance, so it yours. Also, I’m all for pie for dinner. In fact, I’m upset now, because I think it’s been an entire year since I went out to a restaurant and had cheesecake for dinner…
Why don’t you just bike to Canberra? Then it’s still biking, biking, biking, but there’s my HAPPY FACE at the end of it! Hurrah! That’ll make the sore ass worth it!
Tall, dark and handsome? Yes please! I’m not a huge fan of dried figs (the seeds get stuck in your teeth, but heh, it makes sense that you adore them! lol) but 74x better is worth a shot!
Ah, but there’s the beauty of granola! Simply switch the figs for whatever dried fruit you *do* like. Craisins? Apricots? Dried blueberris? Truffles? Bob’s your uncle
YUM.
Do you how to make chocolate granola? That would be the bomb.
I was actually considering that for my next batch (though, first, I have to post the third kind that I’ve just finished eating). I’ll make a chocolate one for you, Ashley dear!
I get a lot more excited at molasses in muesli (it will always be muesli to me) than peanut butter – and I think I would love it with slightly burnt figs – have just had some a little too browned muesli with strawberries – quite interesting but not quite what I intended! But sesame oil! Now that is one I have never even considered for muesli but am thinking tahini at the moment so maybe sesame oil would work.
I’m on a big tahini/sesame kick at the moment too
There seems to be a bit of a generational thing about the granola/muesli naming issue! I honestly believe they’re different things, but each to their own 
So long as we’re all eating and enjoying the same thing, right?
Sounds wonderful; funny we had the same craving as I made a granola not too long ago with tahini and molasses. What kind of molasses did you use? In lebanon, the most common ones are carob, grape, date and apple.
Next time I’ll have to replace the sesame oil with tahini, I think! What I use is blackstrap molasses. In fact, it’s the only one I’ve ever seen available here, although I once tried carob molasses at a cafe on ricotta and almost died from the deliciousness. What I wouldn’t give for carob, grape, date and apple molasses!!
The concept of grape, date and apple molasses sounds astonishing. I’ve not heard of them before. I know we can get pomegranate molasses here, and I think perhaps I even have some in the cupboard, but don’t believe I’ve ever used it.
You’ve reminded me that I’ve had an on-and-off intense desire for pomegranate molasses for at least a year now. The silly thing is I’m sure it’s not even that expensive… I just need to get off my tookus and go search out a middle-eastern grocery store!
The Essential Ingredient usually has it, if you have a Canberra location.
Fiddlesticks! I was a TEI last weekend and had to buy myself something as what I was buying for someone else came under the $10 eftpos limit. I wish I’d known to look for pomegranate molasses then! (I ended up buying cookie cutters…)
*gasp* You liked it MORE than the PB one?! Who are you and what have you done with my BFF?? Are you the evil twin??
Yes. Yes I am. I chopped up the real-good-twin Hannah and have hidden her in different places all over Canberra. It’s like an Easter Wayfaring Chocolate Hunt, except with body parts.
Also… hi Agnes! Hi! Hi! You’re back! Hi!
Hmm. I’m not sure if I’m going to like Evil Twin Hannah more than Real Good Twin Hannah. Oh hell, I’ll give you a shot. :p
And yes! I’m back! Though it would be nice to still be on holiday. Hey, I’ve got an idea! Why don’t I quit my job, and you can quit your PhD and we can go be on holiday forever! (Who knows how we’ll finance this jaunt, but I’m sure we’ll figure out a way.)
So you’re equal-opportunity-Hannahs?
Also…. yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. So travel-sick, and so mopey. Plus this whole Australian-American-dollar parity thing is taunting me. I’ve pretty much convinced myself that, because of this, going on holiday there will actually SAVE me money. Yes. You in? New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Florida? (I’ll explain why the last in an email
)
But why we would go to America where we could go ANYWHERE in the WORLD. Perhaps that reason will become clear in your email.
It just might. Although, actually, it will probably prove why I *shouldn’t* return to the US
But you’re right, of course. Europe? Bhutan? Iceland? The world is our theoretical oyster…
I made my version of your muesli/granola this morning, complete with Neil Diamond soundtrack. I think it turned out pretty well. It’s blonder than your version, but that seems apt enough. It’s very delicious, and I can’t stop nibbling at it as I walk past the kitchen. I’ve even managed to blog it already. I can think of so many variations already.
http://adventuresinalowgiworld.blogspot.com/2010/10/crunchy-granola-suite.html
I’m so, so thrilled, Louise! Bu what is it about granola/muesli that makes nibbling on it so irresistible?! Off to peek at your post now
Oh. My. God!
This sounds wonderful!!
I love granola so much (just did a post on how much I love it!) and this weekend I plan to combine it with another love of mine – chai tea – to make chai granola!! But I might need to make this one too…..and the peanut butter one! Yum!
Thank you!! It really is fantastic, though I’m loving your idea of a chai granola. I just posted about making chai meringues on thid blog, so I can definitely see the flavours working in granola! And you’ve reminded me that I have another granola recipe to post myself…
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