There are two reasons why I was excited when Rollagranola got in touch to introduce me to its granola range: firstly, I love granola but I rarely buy it as most granola products (in the mainstream supermarkets near me) contain honey so they’re not vegan (and unlikely to be ethical) so I try to avoid them; and secondly, I’ve had my eye on making a granola-based stuffing recipe for Christmas, so it was perfect timing.

If you’re reading this post just before Christmas then it might offer some vegan cooking inspiration just in time, but otherwise, these dairy-free and egg-free vegan stuffing balls with granola would make a great addition to any roast (or any dinner!) at any time of year.

How to make vegan granola stuffing balls

Forget stuffing from a box – a homemade version is easy and so much more enjoyable to make. Traditional stuffing ball recipes generally use egg to bind but I used Follow Your Heart Veganegg Replacer and Violife Just Like Cream Cheese, and the mixture held up perfectly.

I adapted this recipe and this recipe to incorporate granola instead of breadcrumbs and added sweet potato. The results were brilliant – I can’t recommend this enough.

Makes: 12 balls

• 1 medium sweet potato (around 250g)
• 1 red onion, thickly sliced and halved
• 1/2 apple, chopped into small pieces
• chilli flakes
• sweet paprika
• 125g Rollagranola Matcha Caveman granola
• 50g dried apricots, chopped
• sage leaves, finely chopped
• mixed spice
• 1/2 egg replacement
• 60g vegan cream cheese

I’m not a pro recipe creator so here’s a brief summary of how I made it:

I roasted sweet potato slices, red onion and chopped apple with seasoning, sweet paprika and chilli flakes:

In a bowl, I mixed the dry ingredients: Rollagranola Matcha Caveman granola, dried apricots, fresh sage and mixed spice.

Matcha Caveman granola has large chunks of whole and half cut nuts so I broke them down a bit first, in the pestle and mortar. The flavour was perfect for this recipe as it has a relatively savoury edge so not as sweet as traditional granolas.

Then I gently smashed the sweet potato and red onion mix to break it down, added the vegan cream cheese and egg replacement and folded it all together.

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Next, I got stuck in with my hands to make the balls. The mixture is sticky so don’t even attempt to answer the phone or multi-task as your hands will be covered in stuffing mix!

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Some recipes suggest baking for 15 minutes but to get them golden and toasty they were in the oven at 180°C (350°F/ gas mark 4) for almost 40 mins.

They looked great, and were firm on the outside but soft on the inside. The squidgy sweet potato was the perfect partner to chunky nuts and seeds from the granola and chopped apricot. The spiciness was also balanced out by the cream cheese.

They were delicious and moreish (three disappeared into my mouth before they even left the tray!) and have kept well, refrigerated in an airtight container for a few days now.

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Why I like Rollagranola

Firstly, how can you not like a brand with a fun name like that! It makes me think of roller derby but obviously the two are completely unrelated!

Rollagranola is a family-run business, based in the UK (and started at a market stall in Hackney, which is not far from me in east London).

The brand says:

Our ethos is to provide high-quality, completely natural and honest products, packed with the highest levels of nuts, seeds and fruit. We don’t want to be like the rest, we want to break away from mass-produced and cheap to give you high quality, completely natural and honest food.

Rollagranola

The eco values are also worth sharing. Packaging is minimal, recyclable and compostable with outer cardboard packaging and plant-based, cellulose inner bag that’s biodegradable. Zero-waste is also a chief consideration across its small-batch manufacturing – check out the zero-waste stores that Rollagranola supplies so you can stock up, completely packaging-free.

When they say the granola is so good you’ll want to eat breakfast for dinner, they’re not lying. I’ve had to put the boxes away for fear of finishing them in just a few sittings.

I loved the large chunks of nuts in Matcha Caveman – literally half the bag was nuts (over 39% to be precise, as it says on the back of the pack) and it’s non-sweet taste. The matcha flavour is barely there so don’t worry if the name suggests otherwise – I was hesitant at first but the subtly savoury edge worked really well for the stuffing recipe.

If you like a more traditional granola sweetness, try Organic & Nutty (the brand’s first foray into organic) or Awesome Almond, the other two varieties I tried that had more raisins, coconut shred, dates, and other great ingredients.

Would love to know if you try this recipe or Rollagranola granola. Find me on Instagram @yanarfitness.

Enjoy x