Yoghurt-y Brunch - Peach Parfait Pots with Yoghurt and Granola

You probably already know how much I love brunch. So when I heard that Chobani were hosting a brunch competition to win tickets to Food Blogger Connect I was pretty excited. I'm pretty new to blogging (as you can probably tell!) so the opportunity to get together with other bloggers, be all geeky and talk about food all weekend long would amazing...

Ask any of my friends and they would probably tell you that I am really competitive. Of course if you asked me personally I would vehemently oppose this, but, in all honesty they are probably right... (sheepish look). So my mind has been in over drive for the past week trying to think of the best brunch recipes using yoghurt - my god there are a lot!

The first thing that springs to my mind when thinking about yoghurt and breakfast is fruit. It could be any fruit but it has to be perfectly sweet and ripe. In fact I think figs might be my fave, I can think of many blissful holidays when the day was started with a bowl of thick yoghurt, juicy figs and a drizzle of honey... Anyway I digress, as we do not have any (good) figs in England at the moment!

But, I did stumble upon some beautiful peaches and nectarines at the market this week, they might not be from the UK but they are a god send. So ripe you could smell them at 50 paces! Along with the yoghurt I decided to pair them with granola, which might seem like an obvious choice as it is a staple on most brunch menus, but it is there for a reason - it lets the fruit sing and it tastes damn good!

There might seem like quite a few steps for a brunch recipe here but you basically get three in one. The Peach Parfait Pots for a fancy brunch, granola for another day, and peach and mint syrup which makes a great iced tea (recipe coming soon). As ever I'm all for recipes which you can make in advance, the granola will keep for a week or two in an air tight jar (if it isn't eaten before then, T is like the granola monster) and the syrup will keep for a week in the fridge. What is your fave thing to eat with yoghurt?

Peach Parfait Pots with Yoghurt and Granola
Serves 4
I have included both maple and agave syrup here but if you only have one of those, just use 1/2 cup of what ever you have, or 1/2 cup of regular golden syrup. I haven't specified which seeds (with the exception of linseed) or dried fruit to use here, just go with what ever you have in the cupboard or your favourite combination, I like to buy the ready mixed packets so I don't have loads of half full packets of seeds floating around!

Granola
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup agave syrup
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
4 tbsp honey
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
3 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup mixed seeds
1/4 cup golden linseed
1 cup mixed dried fruit

Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

Mix together the oil, syrups, sugar and honey in a large bowl until combined. Add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the dried fruit and mix together well.

Spread the mixture onto two lined baking trays. Bake in the oven for approx 10 minutes, take the trays out stir the granola around and rotate the trays. Bake for another 10 minutes, checking along the way. You want to take it out when it is just crisping up around the edges and smells nutty and toasted.

Leave the granola to cool then seal in an air tight jar.

Peach compote
3-4 firm but ripe peaches/nectarines, sliced
2 sprigs of mint
Zest of half an un-waxed lemon, thinly pared with a vegetable peeler
4 tbsp sugar

Tie up the lemon zest and mint sprigs with string to make it easier to remove later. Add all of the ingredients to a small saucepan and just cover the fruit with water. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes until the fruit has broken down slightly. Leave the compote to cool in the pan.

Once cool fish out the mint and lemon zest and then strain the mixture through a fine sieve or muslin. You should be left with around 250ml syrup and the lovely peach compote. Keep the compote in the fridge until needed and put the syrup in a sterilised jar in the fridge. (Iced tea recipe coming soon!)

Assembly
Large pot of Greek yoghurt (such as Chobani)
2 ripe peaches/nectarines
Pomegranate
Granola
Peach compote and syrup
4 glasses

Layer up the yoghurt, granola and peach compote into the glasses. Top each glass with half a sliced peach and some pomegranate seeds and a drizzle of the syrup.