• 200 g(7 oz) quick-cooking oats
• 4 tablespoons sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 50 g(1¾ oz) shelled walnuts, chopped
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon or ground allspice
• 80 g(2¾ oz) light brown sugar
• 125 ml(4 fl oz/½ cup) runny honey
• 40 g(1½ oz) butter

Preheat the oven to 160°C (315°F/Gas 2–3) and grease two large baking trays. Put the oats, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts and cinnamon in a bowl. Put the sugar, honey and butter in a pan and heat, stirring, until the butter has melted. Pour over the oat mixture in the bowl and mix well. (I like to do this with my hands and then get the children to take over, but you can mash it around with a wooden spoon, if you like, until it feels like wet sticky sand.)

Put half the mixture on each baking tray, spreading it out and then pressing it into a thin layer. Put both trays in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. Turn the mixture over with a spoon and return the trays to the oven, the bottom one now on the top. Bake for another 15–20 minutes, or just until the granola is deep golden, turning it again during this time to give it an even colour and break it up slightly (although it’s nice if a few clustery bits remain). Take care not to overcook it, as just a bit past perfect can make it taste bitter. Turn off the oven and leave it in for another 10 minutes or so, then get it out of the oven and leave it to cool completely on the trays. Once cool, this keeps very well in a biscuit tin or something else airtight.