Blueberry Lavender Chia Chews ~ Gourmet Edition ~Nouveau Raw

Blueberry Lavender Chia Chews ~ Gourmet Edition ~

I managed to get my hands on some plump, juicy and organic blueberries and I couldn’t wait to get in the kitchen and start playing around with some new recipes. I love making these chia chews. My mouth is always in search of different textures and this one is quite satisfying. Speaking of blueberries and textures… goodness many, many years ago I was working as a checker in a grocery store (I loved checking! odd I know, but that’s another story for another day) anyway, customers kept coming through my line with containers of fresh blueberries. They were HUGE (the berries not the customers haha)! I made a mental note that for my break I was going to go get me some of them. Break came and I did that very thing… I couldn’t get to the break room fast enough, I wanted to dive into those blueberries something fierce. As I sat down and kicked my feet up on the chair next to me, I leaned my head back and started popping blueberries into my mouth. They were delicious! When I looked down into the container there it was… the grand-daddy, the grand-pu-ba of all blueberries.

Forget my mouth-watering, my eyes were watering just taking in the beauty of this massive juice orb. I picked it up in awe, I had never seen such a large berry. I parted my lips and in it went. Then the oddest thing happened, before my teeth could even cut through the flesh of the berry, I felt a crunch. A crunch? Yep, my mouth opened quickly so I wouldn’t continue to bite down on it, I pulled the semi broken berry out of my mouth, I examined it, pulling it apart to see why it was crunchy…. (drum-roll please) inside the blueberry, all curled up in a ball was a bumblebee!! It was dead but a bumblebee? How odd is that?! So for years after, I had a phobia about blueberries, but as you can tell I have shed that phobia and I am back in love.

So that’s my goofy story about blueberries and bumblebees. Now on to the chews! These chews offer up a substantial bite, they aren’t tough, crunchy or seedy feeling in your mouth. Let’s see, what do they liken to?….(thinking)….Shoot, I can’t think of what they are similar to. All I can say is that it is a fun texture and one that you may not be use to in the raw world of food. So with much excitement I present to you, Blueberry Lavender Chia Chews!

Oh, one more thing - I wanted to touch on using sweeteners in this recipe and why chose the ones I did. I used maple syrup for its earthy flavor as it balances well with the blueberry and lavender. I then added a small amount of liquid stevia which ramped up the sweetness level without adding an additional flavor. I like having these chews on the sweeter side but in the end, it is up to you to decide how sweet or not you would like it.

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 1/2 cup

3 cups organic blueberries
3-4 Tbsp pure maple syrup, to taste
1/2 tsp liquid stevia
1/2 cup whole chia seeds
1/2 cup chia seeds, ground
1 Tbsp ground lavender buds
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation:

In a spice or coffee grinder, grind 1/2 cup chia seeds into a powder and set aside.
In the blender or food processor, fitted with the “S” blade, combine all of the ingredients except for both measurements of chia. Blend until well combined.
Add in both chia powder and whole seeds. Combine well. Set aside for 10 mins. This will allow the chia to thicken the puree.
Pour the mix onto the teflex sheet that comes with the dehydrator. Spread 1/4″ thick. There should be enough batter to make 1 tray worth.
Dehydrate at 145 degrees (F) for 1 hour, then reduce temp to 105 degrees (F) for about 16 (+/-) hours. Flip the chews over about half way through, remove the teflex sheet and continue drying on the mesh sheet.
I used a ruler and paring knife to cut the chews into small squares.
Store in an airtight container. These freeze really well.