Maple Raisin Granola

I love granola but to be honest I haven’t purchased any for many years. When I am passing through the bulk section in the grocery store I always stop and look at, I grab a bag and get ready to fill it. They look so darn good. But then my eye catches the ingredients list. I sadly put my bag down and walk away with my head hanging low. Most granola’s are loaded with such unnecessary, unhealthy ingredients! The world wants to brain wash you into thinking that you are eating healthy with a food name such as “granola”, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. This recipe is from Cafe Gratitude. It is your spring-board to jump off of and dive into your own creativeness. You could make this same recipe but process the nuts to smaller bits and then use it as a granola cereal, served with almond milk.

Ingredients:

3 apples cored and chopped, organic
1 1/2 cups date paste (dates soaked and then processed until smooth, click on the link on to make this)
1/2 cup maple syrup (not raw, see below)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp orange zest or ginger powder
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked 2 hours or more
2 cups raw almonds, soaked 4 hours or more
3 cups raw pecans, soaked 2 hours or more
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds soaked 2 hours or more
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins or dried apples

Preparation:

In a food processor, place the fresh apples, date paste, maple syrup, lemon juice, orange zest, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and 1/4 of the sunflower seeds and grind until completely smooth.
Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.
Add the remaining 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds, the almonds, pecans, and pumpkin seeds to the food processor.
Coarsely chop the nuts and seeds in a few quick pulses.
Add them to the bowl with the apple mixture
Add the cranberries / raisins and combine well.
Spread the batter out on to the teflex sheets that come with your dehydrator and dry on 105 degrees for approx. 6 hours, then flip the granola over the the mesh sheets and continue drying for about 8 more hrs or until desired dryness is reached.
Once cooled, store in mason jars with a tight lid for freshness. To prolong the shelf life store in fridge, but not necessary if you eating it on a regular basis.
Can be frozen up to 6 months easily, just take out as needed.

Tips:

This batch made 3 dehydrator trays worth, but I think I spread it rather thick.
I also upped the raisins from 1 cup to 2.
If you want to keep this recipe completely raw, you can use agave, honey, or yacon as replacements to the maple. The maple is a richer flavor so I personally would use yacon. Click here to learn about it.

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Posted on Sunday, December 12th, 2010 at 1:18 pm. Filed under: Granola Tags: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Vegan RSS 2.0 feed.

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Maple Cranberry Granola

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Posted on Sunday, December 12th, 2010 at 1:15 pm. Filed under: RSS 2.0 feed.

2 thoughts on “Maple Cranberry Granola”

Cheynne says:

May 17, 2013 at 10:59 pm

I made this for the first time a couple days ago. My intention was to fly it with me on my trip out of the country. I need to make more tonight, because I made the perilous mistake of leaving it out and available, and now 1/2 of it is gone! I just kept “testing” it every time I walked past! Really yummy!

Reply
- amie-sue says:
  
  May 18, 2013 at 6:56 am
  
  lol Cheynne. That taste testing will get ya every time. :) I hope you have safe and wonderful travels. May I ask where you are going? amie sue
  
  Reply