Instructions: For the muesli: In a small frying pan toast the hazelnuts until lightly golden brown and then either crush or chop into small pieces.

In the same pan add the porridge oats and toast lightly and then remove from the heat.

In a large bowl grate coarsely the pears and apples and then mix with the porridge oats and all of the other remaining ingredients. Fold the mixture well and add more milk depending on desired texture.

For the granola mix: Preheat the oven to moderate temperature of approx 180 C/350 F/gas mark 4.

Either place all the nuts into a strong plastic bag and crush roughly with a rolling pin or place them in a blender and quickly pulse the nuts so that they are in rough pieces. You do not want them to be too rough or too fine, as this will affect the texutre of the granola

Now using a deep roasting tray (the one used for Sunday roast is ideal) place in all of the ingredinets except the dried dates and sultanas. Mix the nuts and desiccated coconut together well with the oil and honey. Place the roasting tray uncovered in the oven to cook.

Now chop the dates into roughly the same size as the sultanas and mix together ready to add 10 minutes before the end. Meanwhile I would suggest you have another job that you can be doing in the kitchen as it is best to stir the granola every 10-15 minutes.

10 minutes before the end take the granola out and add the dried fruits. The granola and roasting tray will be very hot and only mix the fruits with the granola with a spoon or fork. Place the tray back in the oven and continue to cook for a final 10 minutes.

Once the granola is a beautiful dark golden colour remove from the oven and leave to cool. As the granola begins to cool, the mixture will become crunchy and slightly chewy, these are the two hallmarks of a good granola.

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