I like granola, but I hate how it's often full of crappy fats or added sugars. A friend of mine introduced me to a soaked granola recipe. It's barely sweetened, even has a slightly tart flavor from the yogurt added, but it's crunchy, delicious, and as perfect in a bowl of milk as it is over yogurt or straight out of the container.
Soaking helps increase the digestibility of the oats in this recipe. Soaking is an all around great way to improve digestibility of grains. If you have the time and forethought to soak your grains, you may find improved digestion in all your grain-heavy foods. But, that's a subject to be covered more fully another day. As I mentioned, this is not a sweet granola. It's sweetened just slightly with a sprinkling of cane sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup. It also has some lovely dried fruit sprinkled throughout for a nice change of texture and bursts of natural sweetness.
The actual baking of this granola takes some patience. The original recipe was written for a dehydrator, so for an oven, I've converted it to a very low and slow baking so that the granola gets nice and crispy without getting burned or overdone. You'll need to keep an eye on it after the first 45-60 minutes to ensure it doesn't burn.
Soaked Granola
makes about 5+ cups of granola (depends on thickness of yours and how much you break it up!)
2 cups oats
2 cups water
4 tbsp yogurt
2/3 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
2/3 cup dried fruit, diced (I LOVE cherries and apricots)
1 cup nuts, chopped (I like almonds best)
1/3 cup flour (I use Einkorn; whole wheat would be just fine)
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1 Tbsp cane sugar
1 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
sprinkling of salt
12-24 hours before baking... combine your oats, water, and yogurt in a medium bowl. Cover with a towel and let soak for at least 12 and up to 24 hours. Feel free to add your nuts at this time too, to soak them as well. :)
Preheat oven to 250*F. Mix the rest of your ingredients into the soaked mixture. Line 2 cookie trays with parchment paper. Divide the granola "batter" evenly onto the two trays. Spread as thinly as possible (not so you can see through to the parchment, but as thinly as you can get it for best drying). I was able to fill both of my cookie trays from side to side and end to end with mine.
Bake until crisp and fully dried, might start to get a little golden on the edges. Takes about 1.5 to 2 hours for me. Allow to cool on the pan and then break into desired size chunks and store in an airtight container.
I love to eat this granola over plain yogurt with fruit or in a bowl of whole milk with frozen fruit and a good drizzle of peanut butter!
The actual baking of this granola takes some patience. The original recipe was written for a dehydrator, so for an oven, I've converted it to a very low and slow baking so that the granola gets nice and crispy without getting burned or overdone. You'll need to keep an eye on it after the first 45-60 minutes to ensure it doesn't burn.
Soaked Granola
makes about 5+ cups of granola (depends on thickness of yours and how much you break it up!)
2 cups oats
2 cups water
4 tbsp yogurt
2/3 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
2/3 cup dried fruit, diced (I LOVE cherries and apricots)
1 cup nuts, chopped (I like almonds best)
1/3 cup flour (I use Einkorn; whole wheat would be just fine)
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1 Tbsp cane sugar
1 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
sprinkling of salt
12-24 hours before baking... combine your oats, water, and yogurt in a medium bowl. Cover with a towel and let soak for at least 12 and up to 24 hours. Feel free to add your nuts at this time too, to soak them as well. :)
Preheat oven to 250*F. Mix the rest of your ingredients into the soaked mixture. Line 2 cookie trays with parchment paper. Divide the granola "batter" evenly onto the two trays. Spread as thinly as possible (not so you can see through to the parchment, but as thinly as you can get it for best drying). I was able to fill both of my cookie trays from side to side and end to end with mine.
Bake until crisp and fully dried, might start to get a little golden on the edges. Takes about 1.5 to 2 hours for me. Allow to cool on the pan and then break into desired size chunks and store in an airtight container.
I love to eat this granola over plain yogurt with fruit or in a bowl of whole milk with frozen fruit and a good drizzle of peanut butter!