Choco Maca Buckwheat Breakfast Crunch

This raw, gluten-free breakfast recipe was inspired by one of my favourites from the wonderful book The Raw Alchemist by Shanti Allen and Lesya Pyatnichko. It’s made in the dehydrator and requires sprouted buckwheat so you need to be committed, but I promise it’s worth it!

This stuff just ticks so many of my ideal breakfast boxes. It’s not super sweet, in fact it is quite bitter because it’s made with both cacao powder and nibs (hello energy boost!). It’s perfectly crunchy and holds itself together well, even when floating around in my mylk. It is incredibly nutrient dense. The main ingredient is sprouted buckwheat which boasts (and quite rightly so) a wide range of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Combine that with all the raw cacao (hello iron) and maca (you’re welcome, hormones) and you know you’re starting your day right with this.

I like to have a little handful of this with my Grawnola, some banana mylk and fresh fruit for breakfast. It’s also great as a snack on its own, especially if you need a little energy boost. It is certainly adaptable so feel free to get creative.

If you’re not into super dark chocolatey flavours, you may want to sub out some of the cacao nibs. Perhaps replace with some coconut or raisins for a little sweetness. You could also add more maple syrup or try swapping a few tablespoons of the cacao for carob which has a fruiter flavour.

Ingredients

2 cups buckwheat, soaked for 8 hours and sprouted for around 2 days until small tails have sprouted

1/2 cup dates, soaked if not already soft

2 tablespoons maple syrup (not raw)

4 tablespoons water + more if needed

1/2 cup cacao

3-4 tablespoons maca powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons raw virgin coconut oil (melted gently over a bain-marie)

1 teaspoon lucuma powder (or more if you really like the taste)

1 teaspoon mesquite powder (optional)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons coconut flour

Pinch of sea salt

1/2 cup cacao nibs

1/2 cup crushed almonds

Method

Prepare 2 dehydrator trays and non-stick sheets and turn your dehydrator on.

To a food processor or blender add dates, water, maple syrup, cacao, maca, coconut oil, lucuma, mesquite and cinnamon and blend into a smooth paste. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl and if needed, add more water (a tablespoon at a time) to help everything come together.

When you have a lovely smooth paste, add your salt (I prefer to use chunky flakes) and coconut flour and pulse a few times to combine.

To a mixing bowl, add buckwheat, cacao nibs and crushed almonds and mix.

Add your chocolatey paste to the mixing bowl and mix until everything is coated.

Split the mixture across 2 dehydrator trays and do your best to spread it all out fairly evenly across your non-stick sheets. Clumps and chunks are good.

Dehydrate at 115°F/46°C for around 24 hours. To check it’s done, take a piece out of the dehydrator and leave it to cool for a minute. The final result should be super crunchy.

Once completely cool, store in a jar or airtight container. At this point you could also mix in shredded coconut or any other dried fruits, nuts or seeds you like.