Toasted Pulp Granola (Don't Bin the Leftovers)
Every litre of milk you make leaves behind a handful of pulp. Most people bin it. It is pure fibre and protein, you have already paid for it, and it makes the best granola you will ever eat.
You'll need
- 200 g leftover pulp (almond, hazelnut or oat all work)
- 100 g rolled oats
- 50 g seeds or roughly chopped nuts
- 3 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 pinch of salt
- Optional: dried fruit, added after baking
Method
- Heat the oven to 150 °C. Low. Resist the urge to speed it up.
- Mix everything in a bowl until the pulp is evenly coated.
- Spread it thin on a lined tray. Thin is the whole trick a deep pile steams instead of toasting.
- Bake 35–45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until dry and golden.
- Cool completely on the tray. It is soft when it comes out and crisps as it cools. Do not judge it hot.
- Add dried fruit now, not before it burns in the oven.
Use the pulp the same day. It is fresh, wet food with no preservatives it spoils exactly like fresh food. Bake it today, or freeze it in a bag the moment the milk is made. Two days in the fridge is the absolute limit.
The maths that makes this satisfying
A litre of almond milk uses 100 g of almonds and leaves roughly 60–80 g of pulp. Over a month of milk-making, that is more than a kilo of nut fibre you would otherwise have thrown in the bin. Turned into granola, it replaces a £4 supermarket box which, incidentally, would have arrived with sunflower oil and glucose syrup in it.
Make it your own
- Chocolate: 2 tbsp cocoa in the mix; chocolate chips after cooling.
- Clusters: press it flat on the tray and do not stir for the last 15 minutes.
- Savoury: skip the syrup, add rosemary and sea salt excellent on soup.
Keeps 3 weeks in a sealed jar. If it goes soft, 10 minutes back in a low oven revives it.