Do you go nuts for granola!?

Oh how I love granola! Crunchy, yet chewy goodness, for what is quite frankly my favourite meal of the day…breakfast! I also love chocolate in all its antioxidant rich, nutrient dense glory, so chocolate granola…win win!

Shop bought granola though, even the ‘healthy alternative’, leaves much to be desired! Full of sugar and undesirable fats, often including wheat too.

In March 2014, Sarah Britton from My New Roots, rocked the wholefoods granola world with her Chunky Chocolate Buckwheat Granola recipe. It is delicious, and I have made variants of it many times, but it still didn’t quite tick all of the boxes for me…maybe a little too sweet, not nutty enough…not chocolatey enough! It also isn’t quite as healthy as I would like it to be.

I have been playing with the recipe for a while now but this week I came up with something that really works for us as a family, and I wanted to share it with you.

I use coconut nectar instead of maple syrup, because I love the deep, rich flavour for one, but also it is more nutrient dense and lower on the glycemic index (hence better for your blood sugar levels) than maple syrup. As well as this I have mixed up the grains by adding in millet flakes alongside the oats and buckwheat, and a lot more nuts and seeds.

You will note from the recipe that I use sprouted oats, buckwheat and activated nuts and seeds (I would have used sprouted millet too had I had it). Don’t let it put you off from making this recipe if you don’t have access to these. When I started my journey into the world of clean/traditional foods I didn’t use sprouted/activated grains/nuts and seeds. As I encourage my clients to also do, I took baby steps to improving our diet (mine and my family’s), and as such the changes I made were sustainable, as opposed to a short-lived fad. Why do I sprout and activate my foods now? Grains, as well as nuts and seeds (indeed also beans and lentils too) contain anti-nutrients and enzyme inhibitors which make it difficult for our body to digest and get the nourishment from them (in fact eating them in this way can actually block the body’s ability to use other nutrients from other foods we have eaten). By soaking these foods overnight, and then leaving them to sprout over a couple of days (literally put them in a sieve over a bowl, and rinse 3-4 times a day to keep them fresh – the bowl catches the water drops), you are bringing these foods back to life – the same process they would go through in nature in Spring. As such the enzyme inhibitors and anti-nutrients (nature’s protection for the dormant seeds) breakdown and our body can get the most nourishment from them

On with the recipe!

Ingredients:

Dry

• 2 cups of porridge oats (I like the sprouted Rude Health brand)

• 1 cup millet flakes (you can use buckwheat or more oats here if needs be)

• 1 cup buckwheat groats (I sprout mine on-mass in this huge sieve from IKEA, and then dry them in a dehydrator to use as needed, but you can also dry them on a low temperature in your oven)

• 1 cup pecans (activated and dehydrated)

• 1 cup walnuts (activated and dehydrated)

• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (activated and dehydrated)

‘Wet’

• 1/2 cup coconut oil

• 1/2 tsp ground pink himalayan/sea salt

• 1/4 cup coconut sugar

• 1/2 cup of coconut nectar

• 3/4 cup of cacao powder (I used raw but Green & Black cocoa powder also works)

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 160C fan.

2. Pour all of the dry ingredients into a big bowl and stir around to mix well.

3. Add the coconut oil into a saucepan (preferably without a non-stick base – if that is all you have you may consider using a bain-marie), and melt. Add in the other ‘wet’ ingredients and mix well to combine.

4. Pour the chocolatey mixture over the dry ingredients, slowly, mixing well as you go.

5. Line a big baking dish (if you don’t have a big one then you may need to use 2) with greaseproof paper and pour in the granola mixture.

6. Bake for 15 minutes, at which you point you want to take it out and give it a good stir. Bake again for another 5 minutes and stir again, then 5 minutes, stir again, and then a final 5-8 minutes, depending on how it is looking. You don’t want to let it burn. I actually turn down my oven for the final 10 minutes to 140C fan, so you may choose to do the same.

7. Let it cool completely, and then add to a jar to be eaten at your leisure! I love granola with yoghurt. We don’t eat dairy, but we are in love with Coconut Collaborative‘s yoghurts, which I can now buy from Sainsbury’s – woo hoo!

Tag me @rochelle.a.hubbard on Instagram or Facebook if you make it! I’d love to see all of your nutty makes.