Soaked Granola Cereal

Sometimes you run across a recipe that you just plain love.

Sometimes you make it weekly (even twice a week) and eat it daily (even thrice daily. . . or more).

Sometimes you take it on vacation because you can’t bear the thought of waking up without it. Sometimes you even invent ways to eat it just so you can eat it more often.

You get the point. This is such a recipe.

I love granola and I love cereal. But what I don’t love is how they’re made. According to Sally Fallon, author of Nourishing Traditions, granola subjected “only to dry heat” is extremely indigestible. She states that oats, like all other grains, contain phytic acid. Phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc in the intestinal tract and stop their absorption. As you can guess, this causes mineral deficiencies and all the baggage that comes with that.

Cereal is another food toted as healthy. How many times do we see boxes proclaiming sugar-laden cereals are good for our kids because they’re fortified with vitamins and minerals? Ugh!

Boxed cereal is processed by extrusion – flakes and shapes are formed at high temperatures and pressure. This destroys valuable nutrients, makes certain proteins toxic, and causes oils to become rancid.

Yummy, yummy Frosted Flakes.

If you really want all the benefits from the grains you eat, they should be soaked or fermented first. This allows enzymes to break down and neutralize the phytic acid as well as making them more nutritional and easily digested. I’m all for that!

I’m trying to incorporate more of that soaked goodness into our diets, and because I found this super-duper recipe, I have to share it with you. Don’t let the number of ingredients or the procedure scare you. It’s really simple because it’s broken into daily steps. Feel free to play with the types of nuts (it’s best if you use sprouted) and other dried fruit to fit your family’s tastes.

Gluten Free Soaked Granola/Cereal (gluten-free, egg-free, yeast-free)

8 c. rolled gluten-free oat groats (or gluten-free old-fashioned oatmeal)
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 c. coconut oil
1 1/2 c. homemade yogurt
2 c. water
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. almond extract
1/2 c. raw honey
1 t. celtic sea salt
2 1/2 t. cinnamon (sometimes we use 1/2 t. each of nutmeg, cardamom, mace, allspice, and cloves for something different)
2/3 c. unsweetened coconut flakes
2/3 c. raisins
1/3 c. dried cranberries
1/3 c. walnuts, (soaked)
1/3 c. cashews
1/3 c. almonds, (soaked)

Directions:
1. Melt the butter and coconut oil together.

2. Mix the oats, butter, coconut oil, homemade yogurt, and water together in a large pan or bowl. Pat it down, cover with a plate or a lid, and let it soak at room temp. for 24 hours.

3. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F or pull out your food dehydrator.

4. Heat the honey, salt, cinnamon (or mixture of spices), and vanilla and almond extracts in a small pan until the honey warms and becomes runny. Combine the honey mixture with the oat mixture. Add the coconut flakes but not the fruits or nuts and mix it all until well combined.

5. If you are using your oven, spread it out onto 2 parchment-lined cookie sheets and bake for several hours until completely dry and crisp.

If you are using a dehydrator you can plop small heaps onto the dehydrator trays and bake until crisp and dry. (A word to the wise – don’t spread the granola with your hands as this will squish it between the holes in the tray and makes it more difficult to remove and clean.)

Our dehydrator does not say what temperature is best for granola or grains so we turn it to about 115 degrees. It usually takes about 2 days to dry completely.

6. Once it’s dry, remove what’s left (we can’t stop nibbling as it’s drying – the house smells terrific!) and add any chopped nuts or fruit you’d like.

7. Store in airtight container. Ours never lasts more than a few days so I don’t know how long the shelf life is.

P.S. This is soooo much better than store-bought cereal. And much cheaper too!

Don’t know where to purchase some of these ingredients? Visit our Whole Food Sources page.

Shared at: Healthy Home Economist, Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms, Lines Across My Face, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Home Savvy A to Z, DIY Home Sweet Home, Sarahndipities, Marvelous Messy, Delightfully Dowling, Whole New Mom, Real Food Forager, day2day Joys, Real Food Forager, The King’s Court IV, Gluten-Free Homemaker, Live Renewed, It’s A Keeper, A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa, The Shabby Nest, Mom Trends, Make Ahead Meals For Busy Moms, The Girl Creative, The Prairie Homestead, Skip to My Lou, Simply Sugar & Gluten Free, Coastal Charm, Vintage Wannabee, Whole New Mom, Time-Warp Wife, Confessions of A Frugal Mind, Rook No. 17, Women Living Well, Frugally Sustainable, Milk & Cuddles, We Are That Family, Raising Homemakers, The Thrifty Home, This Chicks Cooks, Tip Me Tuesday, Food Corner, Real Food Whole Health, Simply Sweet Home, Whipperberry, Life as Mom, Far Above Rubies, Raising Mighty Arrows, The Nourishing Gourmet, It’s A Keeper, Nourishing Treasures, Chef in Training, Flour Me With Love, The Modest Mom Blog, Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Little Natural Cottage, Real Food Freaks, Comfy in the Kitchen, Growing Home, Our Simple Farm, Deep Roots at Home, Our Simple Country Life, Living Oil Lady, Food Renegade,

Tagged as: breakfast, egg-free, gluten-free, yeast-free