Homemade Soaked Granola

Follow

I love granola, but in the past couple of years have stayed away from it – mainly because of all the processing of the ingredients.  I used to make my own granola, but life became busier and busier and I just stopped making it.  I was with some family and my cousin had made some wonderful homemade granola – that was all it took for me to want to start making my own again.  My cousin shared her recipe and some of her tweaks to the recipe and I was off.  As the oats were soaking I was thinking of how to get the fruit to not become rock hard as had been a problem for my cousin.

Homemade Soaked Granola

Ingredients

3 cups oats (preferably organic)
3 cups warm filtered water
6 Tbl spoons whey, yogurt, kefir or buttermilk (if allergic to milk use lemon juice or vinegar)
1 1/4 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup dried fruit (I used raisins, apricots, cherries and blueberries)
1 – 2 cups of soaked and dried nuts and seeds (I used almonds, pumpkin and sesame)
1/2 cup wheat or spelt flour (I used spelt)
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup rapadura or maple sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 Tbl cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt

1. Place the oats in a large bowl add the water and the buttermilk, whey or kefir.  Cover and allow to soak on the counter overnight or up to 24 hours.

Soaked

2. The next morning, place your dried fruit in a glass bowl and pour boiling water over the fruit.  Let sit for 30 minutes.

3. In a sauce pan combine the coconut oil, sugar, honey and salt.  Allow to melt on low heat.

4. Add the flour, shredded coconut, cinnamon, nuts and seeds to the soaked oats – mix well, using a wooden spoon.

5. Add the coconut oil, sugar mixture to the soaked oats – mix well.

6. Drain the dried fruit and add to the oats mixture – mix well.

7. You can use either your oven or a dehydrator to dry your granola.  Which ever one you use – the temperature needs to be around 150 degrees no hotter.  It will need to dry anywhere from 24 – 48 hours.  I used a dehydrator and I lined some trays with parchment paper and the other trays I used the liners that come with the dehydrator.  Spread the granola mixture not too thick.

8. About half way thru I flipped the granola over on the trays.

10. Once done – break the granola up and store in an airtight container.

This is great as a snack all by itself,  with yogurt or just add milk.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013