Honey-Nut Oat Clusters, and a Review of Clarks Honey

Honey-Nut Oat Clusters

Earlier this month I was sent a selection of Maple Syrups and Honeys to review from Clarks. I have already reviewed the Maple Syrups along with my recipe for Superfood Pancakes here. Clarks have also branched out into a great range of honeys, you can buy them here from Amazon. I was sent a Clear Blossom Honey, as well as Acacia and Lavender varieties. The recipe below uses the Clear Blossom, however you could use any flavour honey in the recipe, to achieve different tastes and flavours to suit.

Of the samples sent out to me from Clarks, my favourite has to be the Acacia, which is a milder tasting honey by its nature, and is great for adding to beverages as a replacement for sugar, or using to sweeten dishes. If however you are making something where you want the honey flavour to be one of the key tones, using a blossom honey will give a more distinctive taste.

A selection of the Maple Syrups and Honeys available from Clarks

I have developed this recipe for Honey-Nut Clusters as I recently won an Easi-Yo yoghurt maker after entering my Plum and Almond Crumble into the Credit Crunch Munch challenge. I have been experimenting with homemade yoghurt ever since, but both Gary and I agreed that we needed to find something with a bit of 'crunch' to top it off. This is a great basic recipe, and could easily be adapted by adding various dried fruits, nuts or even some chocolate chips to achieve different flavours and textures.

Ingredients

300 grams Rolled Oats
50 grams Golden Caster Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
100 grams Mixed Chopped Nuts
150 grams Blossom Honey
1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste

Method

Combine the oats, sugar, salt, cinnamon and mixed nuts in a large mixing bowl, stir well. 

Add the honey and vanilla bean paste to a smaller bowl, and mix together. Blossom honey can crystalise, and if yours has, place the bowl in the microwave for 15 seconds to thin the mixture back down again. 

Pour the honey and vanilla mixture into the dry ingredients. 

Mix well so that the honey is evenly distributed throughout the dry ingredients.

Transfer the mixture onto a lined baking sheet, spread evenly, and press down with the back of a spatula or wooden spoon to compress the mixture. 

Bake at 180 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown, take care not to let the edges go too dark or they will taste bitter. Once golden, remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.  

Finally, once cool, break into clusters. Stored in an airtight container, these will keep up to 2 weeks. Sprinkle over fresh yoghurt, and add an extra glug of honey for a tasty breakfast.