For many people who are just getting started with a “raw lifestyle,” it’s the cravings for comfort foods that can be the biggest challenge. If you’ve been accustomed to eating pastries and bagels, a big bowl of oatmeal or a crunchy sugared cereal each morning, it’s hard to get used to having green smoothie or bowl of fruit instead.
There are as many recipes for dehydrated granola as there are nuts, fruits and seeds. Once you get the hang of it, you can begin experimenting with a big variety of ingredients until you find the right combination to suit your taste.
Equipment
If you’re reading this recipe, hopefully you’ve invested in a good dehydrator with mesh screens and Teflex sheets. Granola, like recipes for flax seed and veggie crackers, will be very sticky and moist when you mix the ingredients, so you’ll need a Teflex sheet and mesh screen for this recipe.
Soaking Nuts and Dried Fruits
Some granola recipes recommend soaking the nuts, seeds and fruits prior to blending and dehydrating. Non-soaked nuts are said to have enzyme inhibitors, which means that our bodies have to work harder to get the nutrient value out of the nuts. Soaking also helps the mixture to bind or stick together more easily.
Another school of thought for granola-making uses a mixture of nuts and fruits without soaking them first. Instead, the mixture is bound together by soaked flax seeds (2 cups flax seeds to 2 cups water). When flax seeds are soaked for four hours or more, they develop a gelatinous “goo” that is great for binding together ingredients.
The recipe below uses date paste instead of flax seeds as the “binding ingredient.” Date paste also gives the granola a sweeter flavor, and it smells unbelievably good while dehydrating.
Raw Granola Recipe:
Ingredients:
To make enough granola to last the week, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Binding ingredients:
- 1 cored apple, chopped
- 1 ½ cups date paste (dates soaked in water for 1-2 hours, then pureed with ¼ cup of water until smooth)
- 1-2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons lemon or orange juice
- 2 tablespoons of orange or lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
Seeds/nuts/fruits, soaked 2 hours each:
- ½-1 cup sunflower seeds
- 2 ½ cups pecans
- 2 cups walnuts (2 hours) or 2 cups almonds (soaked 4 hours)
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup dried and chopped apricots
- 1 cup raisins or cranberries
Optional:
½-1 cup organic dried unsweetened coconut
Directions:
- Grind the binding ingredients in a food processor until smooth, including ¼ cup of the sunflower seeds. Place in a large mixing bowl.
- Drain the remaining nuts, seeds and fruit.
- Put the nuts and seeds into a food processor (you’ll probably need to do it in 2 batches). Chop coarsely, using a few quick pulses. Place this mixture into the large bowl with the apple/date (binding) mixture, add the dried fruit, and mix the rest by hand.
- Spread granola on a Teflex sheet. The mesh and dehydrator screen should be placed underneath the Teflex before spreading.
- Dehydrate at 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit for about 5 hours, then flip granola onto bare mesh screen and peel off Teflex sheet. Dehydrate for another 10-12 hours, or until the granola is crunchy.
- Serve with fresh berries and almond milk or Brazil nut milk. Delicious!
- Store in an airtight place and keep refrigerated for freshness.
- Note: the moist granola mixture can be refrigerated over night, but is best when transferred directly to the dehydrator after mixing.
Try substituting ingredients with any combination of nuts or dried fruits you happen to have around the kitchen. Use date paste or flax seeds to bind the ingredients together—whatever suits your taste. If you get in the habit of making granola on weekends, you’ll always have healthy, delicious cereal around for breakfast or afternoon snacks.
Related articles:
Raw Food Diets: Tips for Getting Started
