Sprouted Quinoa, Goji Berries & Raisin Dehydrator Cookies

School starts back up in two weeks and it will be back to making lunches everyday, including a couple of snacks for the day.  We were successful last year with coming up with some pretty nutritious alternative snacks from what is in the typical American child’s diet.  We made some raw food brownies, but those would be hard for Stella to bring for a snack until the weather turns cooler – since there is not refrigeration at school.  So I wanted to find a raw food, live food snack alternative that could be packed into the school lunch. This is a good one, but it does take about 24 hours to make – but a lot of the time you are going about your day.

Quinoa is a wonderful food – I just love it, Stella not so much.  The great thing is that Stella will not eat this when cooked and put into a stir fry or as a side dish, but she will eat it when I sprout it and add to food or in some of the baked recipes.  Quinoa, which most people think is a grain in actuality is really a seed. The ancient Incas called quinoa the “mother grain” and revered it as sacred.  Quinoa is gluten free and is considered a complete protein because it contains all 8 essential amino acids needed for tissue development.

Sprouted Quinoa, Goji and Raisin Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa
Water
1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 raw honey
Cinnamon
Sea Salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup goji berries

1. The night before: measure 1 cup of quinoa, rinse several times and then place in a bowl, jar, measuring cup – cover with water and allow to soak overnight – at least 8 hours but can be up to 12 hours.  This allows the quinoa seeds to sprout.

 

 

 

 

2. The next day: drain and rinse the quinoa – allow to sit in a colander, so that most of the water is drained.

3. Soak the raisins and goji berries in hot water – to plump them up.  It only takes about 10 – 15 minutes of soaking for them to be ready.  Drain the water.

 

4. In a food processor, add the quinoa, 1 1/4 cup almond meal, cinnamon (amount is up to you – I like the flavor, so I add generously – at least 2 tsp), pinch of salt, raw honey.  Process.

5.  Take the batter and transfer to a glass bowl (you can leave in the food processor bowl, but I find it is hard to add other ingredients with the blade).

6. Add the raisins and goji berries – mix well.  The batter needs to be fairly thick – closer to a dough consistency.  If need be add a little more almond meal.

7. Using spoons, place small dollops on a dehydrator tray lined with a teflex sheet.  If you do not have a teflex sheet you can use parchment paper.  Just cut the parchment paper to fit the tray.  Flatten the dollops with the back of the spoon.

8. Dehydrate for 4 hours at 105 degrees.

9. After the 4 hours, take the cookies off the teflex sheets and place directly on the dehydrator trays.  Dehydrate for another 4 hours.  You want the cookies to be crisp on the outside, but chewy on the inside.  You may have to dehydrate longer depending on the weather, humidity and how flat you made the cookies.

10. When done, place in an air-tight container and again depending on the temperature keep on counter, refrigerator or you can freeze.  I made mine bite size and they are wonderful.  Stella love’s them!

These are considered a raw food dessert, since the temperature stayed below 118 degrees.

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2 Responses to Sprouted Quinoa, Goji Berries & Raisin Dehydrator Cookies

  1. Candace says:

    How nutritious!! For those without a dehydrator, could you bake them in a very low oven on parchment paper? Love that Stella LOVES them. (You really need to find someone who wants to market your raw foods….maybe Blue Mountain organics?)

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