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Healthy Vegan Granola for your Granola Bowl Menu
It’s a headache, isn’t it? The whole menu options thing. Providing food for people is just not as simple as it once was. And it is no secret that many chefs still find providing vegan options challenging. Vegan granola is a great start.
Why Vegan Granola?
The simplest answer to that question is why not? As more and more customers seek out vegan options, it makes sense to provide delicious food that covers all bases.
Plant-based food is becoming more mainstream and the goal now is not just to offer vegan options but to make them so good that they are simply THE option. Your vegan customers will still ask ‘Is it vegan’ but to everyone else, it simply won’t matter.
This blurring of the lines and providing food that everyone can enjoy can be a real plus in business terms. Not only does it make quality (not dietary differences) the overall goal but fewer products mean less waste and increased consistency. It really does benefit your bottom line.
The Granola Bowl
The granola bowl steadily climbed the ranks to become a breakfast favourite, transcending fleeting food trends to cement itself as a beloved staple. Whether your customers prefer to grab and go from the fridge or enjoy a proper sit-down, the granola yogurt combo remains a popular choice whatever time of day.
What Makes a Good Granola Bowl?
Call us biased, but the key to a good granola bowl is obviously good granola. Aim for good quality ingredients all around and you are onto a winner.
Good quality ingredients
It goes without saying that better-quality ingredients add up to a better dish. Choose food that has been grown and produced with integrity and is minimally processed. Better for the planet, better for the palate, and better for the plate.
Choosing a great quality Greek yoghurt, a granola designed for purpose, and fresh seasonal fruit, is the first step towards a yogurt bowl that they keep coming back for.
With its crunchy clusters and classic taste our roasted almond crunch vegan granola is ideal for your yogurt bowls.
Keep it simple
The knock-on effect of choosing quality ingredients is that a little goes a lot further. Simplicity is key when ingredients can shine.
The Vegan Yogurt Bowl
We hate to point out the obvious, but isn’t yogurt generally NOT vegan? So why bother with vegan granola?
You could offer a vegan granola bowl without yogurt, but that would be somewhat missing the point. Close cousins to the granola bowl are the acai bowl and the smoothie bowl, but again slightly missing the point.
There are now many excellent brands of vegan yoghurt on the market, or you could make your own. Unfortunately, yogurt is one area where the vegan variety may not quite match up to the real deal so for the time being you may want to keep stocking your favourite dairy-based Greek yoghurt too.
How to make vegan yoghurt
The primary ingredients you’ll need are non-dairy milk and a yogurt starter culture. Different plant milks give different textures so it may take a bit of trial and error.
Here’s a basic step-by-step guide to get you started:
Choose Your Milk
Start with your preferred non-dairy milk. Make sure it doesn’t contain any additives that might inhibit the fermentation process. Homemade non-dairy milk, and store-bought varieties labelled with minimal ingredients are ideal.
Heat the Milk
Pour the non-dairy milk into a saucepan and heat it over medium heat until it starts to simmer, typically at around 82°C. This step helps to change the protein structure, so it will set as yogurt.
Cool the Milk
After heating, let the milk cool to around 110°F (43°C). You can use a thermometer to ensure the temperature is exactly right for adding the starter culture.
Add the Starter Culture
Once the milk has cooled, stir in the yogurt starter culture. You can buy a vegan yogurt starter culture from health food shops, use a probiotic capsule, or use a couple of tablespoons of pre-made vegan yogurt as a starter.
Incubate the Mixture
Pour the mixture into a container (a metal Gastronorm is ideal )and incubate it at a consistently warm temperature (around 43°C). The top of an industrial fridge should be warm enough, or an oven set to a very low temperature. Or you could use a commercial yogurt-making machine. Let it sit undisturbed for 6-12 hours depending on the desired thickness and tanginess of your yogurt.
Refrigerate
Once the yogurt has set, refrigerate it for at least a couple of hours before eating. This will help it firm up further and improve its flavour. You may want to strain it through a nut bag or a clean tea towel to firm it up even further.
As we have seen, choosing a vegan granola to cover all your breakfast bowl needs is a great step towards incorporating plant-based foods into your standard stock. Not only will everybody love it, but it keeps things simple and helps to prevent unnecessary waste.
Explore our range of other healthy cereals for your breakfast and all-day cafe menu.
This article was reproduced on this site with permission from operafoods.com.au the “Healthy Cereal Wholesalers”.
See original article:- Choose Vegan Granola for your Granola Bowl Menu
Vegan Granola. Why Not All Granola is Suitable for Vegans
So, vegan granola? Some might call this stating the obvious. Others might just say ‘Well, duh’. But is it really that simple? Is all granola suitable for vegans?
Traditional Granola Ingredients
Let’s examine the ingredients of traditional granola and then see what’s in there that might not be vegan.
Typically, granola is a mixture of oats, nuts, and sweeteners like honey or sugar. It often includes other grains, dried fruits, and seeds for extra crunch and flavour. Oats are the primary ingredient in granola, providing not only an excellent source of fibre and complex carbs but also the defining texture that is granola. Not much concern for your average vegan there.
Nuts, such as almonds, pecans, or walnuts, provide essential healthy fats and proteins. Again, all good on the vegan front.
Sweeteners, such as honey or brown sugar, are used to enhance both flavour and texture, alongside fats and oils that create the all-important texture that makes granola well, granola. These can both raise red flags for those on a plant-based diet, so let’s explore them in more detail.
Fats and oils in granola
The good news for vegans is that dairy or animal fats are rarely used in commercial granola, partly due to cost and partly due to shelf life. Although butter may be a key ingredient in homemade granola recipes, the granola you pick from the shelf is more likely to be made with some type of vegetable oil. Do watch out for non-sustainable palm oil. Vegan it may be, but it is not very planet-friendly.
Sugars in granola
Most manufacturers of healthy granola are trying to reduce, or even omit, refined sugars in their cereal. As replacing these with artificial sweeteners is out of the question, many are turning to natural syrups such as honey.
Generally speaking, honey is not considered vegan because it comes from bees. Bees produce honey as a way to store food for themselves, especially for the winter months when there aren’t as many flowers to gather nectar from. When humans harvest honey, they often replace the bees’ hard-earned food with a sugar solution that is significantly less nutritious.
Therefore, many vegans opt to exclude honey from their diet, respecting the labour of bees and aiming to minimize harm towards them. However, some vegans consider locally sourced, sustainable honey as an exception. As with many things in veganism, it often comes down to individual decision-making based on one’s ethical considerations.
Find out more about sugar in cereal in our article on low-sugar granola
Healthy Vegan Granola
Luckily, there are plenty of options for plant-based granola, using natural syrup alternatives to honey. The most popular, in terms of both nutritional value and flavour, is maple syrup granola.
Maple syrup as a vegan sweetener
Maple syrup is a fantastic vegan alternative to honey, offering a rich, distinctive flavour profile and a host of nutritional benefits. The sap of maple trees, this natural source of sweetness is completely plant-based, making it a perfect fit for vegan diets. Unlike refined sugars, maple syrup is rich in minerals and antioxidants. Its lower glycaemic index compared to regular sugar makes it a healthier choice for maintaining stable blood sugar levels. Remember, as with any sweetener, moderation is key to balance taste and health benefits.
Have you tried our award-winning maple nut crunch vegan granola yet?
Agave syrup natural vegan sweetener
Not everybody loves the distinct flavour of maple syrup but there is another natural syrup that is completely vegan. And that’s agave syrup.
Agave syrup, also known as agave nectar, is a natural sweetener derived from the core of the agave plant. It has a neutral taste and a smooth, velvety texture which make it a versatile ingredient in vegan recipes. Agave syrup is often used as a vegan alternative to honey in dishes that require a touch of sweetness. While it’s worth noting that, like all sweeteners, it should be consumed in moderation, agave syrup can be a great choice for vegans looking for a natural, plant-based sweetener.
You may also like our roasted almond crunch vegan granola made with agave syrup.
As we have seen, the question of vegan granola is not as clear-cut as it may seem. But if you are looking for a quality plant-based granola then check out our range.
This article was reproduced on this site with permission from operafoods.com.au the “Vegan Granola Manufacturers”.
See original article:- Vegan Granola. Why Not All Granola is Suitable for Vegans