It’s Christmas Eve, oh what a wonderful time of year. Our tree is decorated, presents are wrapped and under the tree, and I’m sitting by the fire with a nice cup of herbal tea. These past two days I’ve been working on one of my gifts to give to loved ones. As you may have guessed, yes it is granola. But it’s not like your normal granola. Yes it has nuts, oats, raisons, but the secret to this granola is something special. Love? Why yes, there is lots of love made into these, but that’s not it.What is it? Well, before making the granola, I sprout and dehydrate all the nuts and seeds. Why is that important? It not only makes them actually taste better, it has lots of health benefits, and i’m all about those health benefits.
Health benefits of sprouting and dehydrating nuts / seeds.
All nuts and seeds naturally have an enzyme in them, which our bodies have a hard time digesting. By soaking them overnight or for 7 + hours they begin to sprout, which releases the enzymes we can’t digest. By releasing that enzyme, it allows all the other good enzymes and healthy properties, in a way, come to life! Nuts and seeds are then easier to digest and we absorb all the healthy properties more. It also reduces the fat content and in riches all the nutrients.
Squirrels even sprout their nuts they find. But they do it a little different. When they find nuts, they bury them in the ground for a period of time. After that time is up, they come back to dig up the nuts to then eat. Pretty cool huh?
So, I suggest everyone sprouts their nuts and seeds. It’s easy! Just put them in bowls, fill it with warm filtered water, and let them sprout while you sleep. In the morning, rinse them off and then dehydrate them. If you don’t have a dehydrator, just put your oven on the lowest possible temperature and dehydrate for at least 6-8 hrs.
NOTE: This recipe makes ALOT, I was making this for about 10 people. It makes roughy 25 cups of granola. Just cut the recipe in half or as much as you need.
INGREDIENTS:
7 cups organic oats
6 cups organic raw pumpkin seeds
5 cups organic raw sunflower seeds
5 cups organic raw almonds
5 cups organic raw walnuts
3 cups organic unsweetened shredded coconut
6 cups rasions
(1) 14oz jar organic unrefined coconut oil
(1) 10.5 oz jar organic raw cinnamon honey
(1) 12oz jar organic raw honey
2 tablespoons organic vanilla extract
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons sea salt
DIRECTIONS:
1) Sprout and dehydrate the almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. Simply soak them in warm filtered water overnight (I mixed the almonds and walnuts in one bowl and the pumpkin and sunflower seeds in another). In the morning strain and rinse them. Then spread them out on a dehydrator and dehydrate for at least 6-8 hours. It you don’t have a dehydrator, put your oven on the lowest possible temperature and spread the nuts and seeds on baking sheets. You’ll have to mix them around a bit every few hours or so.
2) Once the nuts/seeds are done, roughly chop the almonds and walnuts. Mix all the DRY ingredients into a bowl. Since this recipe makes so much. I had to have 3 bowls.
3) On the stove, slowly heat the coconut oil and honey, until melted. Then stir in the vanilla extract. Slowly drizzle the honey oil mixture over the dry ingredients. Then mix VERY WELL. You may have to actually get your clean hands in there and mix it up until everything is coated and slightly wet.
4) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Spread the mixture onto baking sheet pans and put in the oven. You’ll have each batch in the oven for about 20-30 minutes. every 5-10 min stir the mixture around the get an even brownness. Once the nuts slightly get brown, pull them out and let them cool for about 10 minutes. Once cooled store in glass containers and enjoy! I love eating the mixture before it gets roasted. I get a little impatient. Roasting the mixture allows it to become slightly crispy and hold together well.
Enjoy this plain, in yogurt, over pancakes, or even on some homemade organic ice-cream!
Merry Christmas, hope you have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones.