This is the best raw granola I've made yet. The nuts and seeds need to soak, so usually I start soaking the almonds at night, then in the morning I put the pumpkin and sunflower seeds on to soak and start making the granola in the evening. So it's in the dehydrator overnight and usually ready by the next morning. Sprouted buckwheat groats are optional, but make a really nice, extra-crunchy addition. I usually have them on hand, I make them up by themselves and just sprinkle some into the finished granola.
This raw granola is great with kefir. I've not tried it with nut milk yet but I bet it would be delicious with either almond milk or cashew milk. I love it just for a snack too, I eat it by the handful. It would store and travel really well if you go hiking too.
Ingredients:
2 cups almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
2 apples, grated (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 Tablespoons cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean powder
1-1/2 teaspoon maple syrup *
1/2 teaspoon stevia powder
Pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup dried sprouted buckwheat groats (optional)
2 Tablespoons mesquite powder (optional)
2 Tablespoons lucuma powder (optional)
Instructions:
Soak the almonds for 12-48 hours, drain and rinse. Soak pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds for 4-6 hours, drain and rinse.
Put the soaked nuts and seeds in a food processor or blender and process until they are finely chopped but still a bit chunky. You want a bit of texture rather than a patรฉ consistency.
Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add all the other ingredients except the dried sproouted buckwheat groats, and mix well. The mixing is a bit of a chore if you use a fork or some other implement. I suggest you do what I do and just get your hands in there and mix it up really well.
Spread it evenly over 3 dehydrator trays covered with Teflex sheets. Dehydrate at 105F for 10-12 hours or until crunchy.
* Maple syrup isn't raw. In this recipe it's used more for flavoring than sweetness, so if you want a purely 100% raw granola you can leave it out.
Donna
Hi Andrew. You can totally leave the maple syrup out of this recipe. The stevia is intensely sweet, and it’s not sugar at all. It’s a herb. It’s great because it won’t cause your blood sugar levels to spike, but it’s a powerful sweetener.
I do use honey in a lot of the other recipes. The reason I like honey is because, if it’s good quality honey, it is a super-food, with lots of nutrients and enzymes. But if it’s not good quality it is basically sugar-water than has been processed through the bees. They won’t be as healthy if too much of their honey is stolen and they are fed sugar water instead, their honey won’t have much nutritional value and really it’s not worth using. But if you can get raw, organic, good quality honey, it’s high in nutrients, enzymes and has been found to promote longevity. Date syrup sounds nice, but keep in mind that if it’s commercially produced it’s basically just sugar too. For instance, if it’s been cooked down, or pasteurized all the nutrients and life-force will be destroyed, leaving just the sugar (fructose). If it’s somehow processed raw, like if you soak fresh raw dates and then blend them yourself, that would be delicious and nutritious. Yum… now I’m going to have to experiment with making my own ๐
Aine
I recently acquired a dehydrater from a friend and decided to try it out with this recipe. I didn’t have stevia, lucuma and mesquite or lucuma and just forgot to add the maple syrup. I spread it over three trays. The end result was the crumble texture of muesli rather than a granola bar. Still delicious even without the sweeteners. However, should I have spread it thicker or did I leave out anything to help bind it together?
Alexine
Can’t wait to try this! I just stumbled upon your site and absolutely love it! Seems like, from a first glance, you are combining really well the principles of cancer fighting and gut healing foods. I’ve found myself confused between the pro raw dairy and organic meet and the vegetarian/vegan movement. I am starting to do cultured vegetables and want to venture into kombucha making, etc… I will be visiting here often ๐
Jeanette
This looks good! How would you recommend storing it? In the freezer? And how long do you think it would keep?
Donna
Hi Jeanette, it keeps for quite a while because it’s dried. I’ve never kept it around long enough to find out when it goes bad. Of course, out of direct sunlight, and someplace cooler just like any other grains or nuts are best stored will keep it lasting longer. But I think you’ll probably have no problem eating it before it goes off.
Sandy Feldman
New to soaking and sprouting. As far as the pumpkin and sunflower seeds do you soak with the shells on, buy them deshelled or what? Once soaked do you remove shells?
Donna
Hi Sandy, buy them without the shells for this kind of soaking and sprouting/activation. You can buy them with the shells on if you are planting them and doing microgreens. But for this, buy the ones without the shells.