The London Plane: Rose Granola

For the past couple of weeks we explored Seattle and Portland, not so much sightseeing-wise but food-wise. We had lunch at The London Plane, which is not only a café, but also a bakery, patisserie, florist, and mini-delicatessen. They even sell tableware. Everything, food included, is wonderful, beautiful and delicious. It’s a small mini-market, but really, I could have spent hours there. As a souvenir I bought a package of Rose Granola. Usually I make granola myself, easy as it is. I had never seen Rose Granola before and that made me curious. Very tasty, and being a food writer with a food blog, I had to make it myself. I still had some rosebuds sitting in my pantry, so today I prepared this Rose Granola, which is based on my own foolproof recipe. It turned out really good, if I may say so. It’s lightly spiced with a subtle taste of roses. Pretty much like the London Plane’s version.

NB You can find dried rosebuds at teashops and online. Look for good quality rosebuds with a lot of aroma.

Makes about 1 lb/450 g 
granola
Action: 10-15 minutes, plus about
20 minutes baking

7oz/ 200 g rolled oats
1.75 oz /50 g unsalted and shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
1.75 oz /50 g shaved almonds
3.5 oz/100 g unroasted sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds
1.75 oz/50 g shredded coconut
2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground cinnamon
5 tbsp (about 2.5 oz/75 g) coconut oil
5 tbsp honey (4.5 oz/125 g) honey
12-16 dried rosebuds

Extra: parchment paper

1. Preheat the oven to 340°F/170°C. Combine oats, nuts, seeds, coconut, cardamom and cinnamon in a bowl.

2. Heat the coconut oil together with the honey in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from the heat as soon as the coconut oil has melted. Pour over the oat mixture and stir until everything is well coated.

3. Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the granola for 18-20 minutes, or until it’s golden brown; stir the granola after 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the granola, for it can suddenly turn too brown, which makes the granola taste bitter.

4. Remove from the oven and let cool until lukewarm (the granola becomes crunchy once totally cooled). Remove the stems form the rosebuds. Above the granola, crush the rosebuds gently between your fingers until the petals come loose. Mix and leave to cool completely. Store in a jar.

The London Plane
300 & 322 Occidental Ave. S
Seattle, WA 98104
206-624-1374