Raw Granola Bars and Raw Granola

I was craving cereal over the weekend (doesn’t help that my husband buys cereal I can’t eat!) so I finally tried out a recipe I had found for Raw Nut Granola.  It is a bit of a process but it was so worth it.  It turned out as raw granola bars that you can break up into granola for cereal.  So you really get two recipes in one!

This recipe does require a dehydrator so if you don’t have one, you may be able to bake the mixture at about 300 degrees F until it is crisp.  You may want to put it on parchment paper or just grease the pan very well.  You’ll also want to make the mixture quite thin on the pan.  This does kill the beneficial enzymes in the nuts and seeds but it is an option if you don’t have a dehydrator.

I did make some adjustments to the recipe, simply due to not having dates, lemon, pumpkin seeds or vanilla.  But here is the original recipe as well as my adjustments.  For me, it made two  full sheets of granola on the Excalibur dehydrating sheets which later fit almost into two quart sized jars (one is already gone…)

Raw Nut Granola (egg-free, dairy-free, grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, soy-free)

Makes approx 10 cups

1        apple chopped
1 ½  cup date paste (some dates soaked in a little boiling water and then whiz in the food processor until a paste is formed) I used figs for this because I didn’t have dates on hand
½      cup honey, preferably raw
2         Tbsp lemon juice – I used 4 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice
1         Tbsp vanilla extract (optional) – left out, still tasty
1         tsp cinnamon
½      tsp salt
½      cup sunflower seeds soaked 2 hours or more
2        cups almonds soaked 4 hours or more
3        cups pecans soaked 2 hours or more
1        cup pumpkin seed soaked 2 hours or more – used additional 1 cup sunflower seeds
1        cup dried cranberries or currants or sultanas – I left these out because I am avoiding raisins

1. In a food processor whiz apple, date paste or soaked figs, honey, lemon or orange juice, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and the sunflower seeds to make paste.  Transfer to a bowl
2. Add to the food processor, remaining sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds (don’t bother rinsing bowl). Coarsely chop in a few quick pulses.  Add nuts and seeds to the bowl with fruit paste.  Mix well
3. Spread onto baking paper or dehydrator sheets and place in dehydrator at 115 F for 8 hours.
4. Flip the granola over and peel away the paper
5. Dehydrate another 12 hours until crunchy.
6. Break into pieces and once cooled store in the fridge in glass containers.  Enjoy as Raw Granola Bars or Raw Granola – just break up into smaller pieces for granola.

Yummy!

Nut-free? I don’t see why you couldn’t make this and simply use all pumpkin and sunflower seeds in place of the nuts.  You could also use 1/3 dessicated coconut and I am sure it would be yummy!