Sunday, July 8, 2012

A new favorite healthy GF granola!

I recently stumbled upon a great granola recipe!  It is gluten free and soaked to help with digestion and is delicious!  Many thanks to The Nourishing Home for such a great recipe!  You should read her post for some great tips and pictures to help get the perfect texture and crunch :)  She has many other great super-healtthy and delicious recipes on her blog, so please check it out!  I followed this recipe almost completely except that I baked the granola at 350 for 20 minutes before crumbling and starting the dehydrating process.  I've read that oats are very hard to digest unless they are baked or boiled rather than just dehydrated.  I made it with the buckwheat and I have to say that my 5 year old and I absolutely LOVED the extra crunch a texture of the extra grain!  However, my picky 3 year old did not  like it so for my next batch I ground up the buckwheat and my 3 year old never even knew it was there.  The buckwheat or rye is very necessary to help break down the oats to help with nutrition and digestion.  I also just used maple syrup instead of part honey because I could skip the warming step and just mix it in quickly.


Ingredients
    STEP ONE: SOAKING
  • 6 cups organic rolled oats (use regular or thick-cut rolled oats, not quick-cook or steel-cut oats)
  • 2 cups organic rolled rye flakes (if gluten-free, see note below)
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup organic unrefined coconut oil, melted
  • 1 can (14oz) *Native Forest unsweetened organic coconut milk
  • 2 cups filtered water
  • 4 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
Instructions
  1. Place butter and coconut oil in a small sauce pan and heat until melted. Pour into a very large ceramic (or glass) mixing bowl and add coconut milk, water and vinegar; whisk to combine.
  2. Add oats and rye flakes (or buckwheat groats); thoroughly combine using a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
  3. Cover the bowl and place it in a warm area of your kitchen for 24-48 hours. (*I use Native Forest brand because they use BPA-free cans. Please note: This recipe will not work with coconut milk beverages, i.e. Silk or So Delicious brands.)
  4. Once oat mixture is finished soaking, you're ready for STEP TWO: BAKING.
Notes
GF Option: If you're gluten-free you can use buckwheat groats for the soak. You can decrease the amount to 1 cup of buckwheat groats and then use 7 cups of GF rolled oats. The reason you need rolled rye or buckwheat groats is because they contain the phytase necessary to help break down the high levels of phytic acid in oats. Oats do not contain much phytase so soaking them without a phytase booster (like rolled rye, or buckwheat for those who are GF) doesn't do much to reduce the phytic acid.
  • Step 2:  Baking:
  • 3/4 cup honey 
  • 3/4 cup organic pure maple syrup
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 ½ tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. After soaking time is completed, preheat oven to 200° F. Place honey, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla in a glass measuring cup. Place measuring cup in a small pot of warm water on the stove. Bring water to a gentle simmer, stirring honey mixture until melted and all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Turn off heat and remove cup from pan carefully, using an ovenmit. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture.
  2. Using large rubber spatula, combine the honey and oat mixtures, until well combined. 
  3. Spread the mixture out over two parchment paper-lined, 12x17-inch rimmed-baking sheets. Place baking sheets side-by-side in oven for best results. If you have to stack them, be sure to rotate them during bake time. Bake for 8 hours, turning the granola every two-hours. Then turn off oven and allow to sit in warm oven overnight until completely cooled.
  4. Remove cooled granola from the oven and mix in any “add-ins” you’d like (see suggestions above). Makes 10-cups of granola (without add-ins).