Apple Cinnamon Grawnola

Crispy and delicious vegan granola. Dehydrated instead of baked. Sweetened naturally and packed full of nutritious ingredients. As with all dehydrator recipes, this requires a little patience, but the results are so worth it. You’ll get all the crunch of “regular” granola, but without all the sugar and since this is dehydrated and not baked, all those useful digestive enzymes will stay in-tact! For the purists among us, (most) oats are not strictly raw as they are steamed during the rolling process, but I love them, so they’re staying in. However, you could always make this using sprouted buckwheat to make it totally, totally raw.

This is NOT a super sweet granola because I’m just not personally into very sweet breakfasts. It’s sweet enough for me and my family, but if you like more of a dessert granola, you may want to add some more maple syrup (not raw - don’t tell raw police). If you taste the raw mix, remember, the natural sugars from the fruit will intensify as it all dehydrates, so the final flavour will be much sweeter. Also the apple and raisins will add a lot of sweetness. What I’m saying is I think it’s perfect. But I hear you if you need more of a sweet hit.

Ingredients

Wet

2 tablespoon ground flaxmeal

5 tablespoons water

1/2 cup pitted dates (packed)

1 apple (stalk and seeds removed,)

1-2 tablespoons coconut oil

Juice of half a lemon

Juice of 1 orange

1/4 cup water

1-2 tablespoons maple syrup (not raw)

Dry

3 cups oats (use gluten-free if necessary)

1 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground ginger

pinch salt

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/2 cup almonds, crushed

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup flaked coconut

Drying separately

2 apples

To mix in at the end

A handful of goji berries and/or raisins (optional)

Method

Switch on your dehydrator and prepare 3-4 trays, put dehydrator sheets on two of them.

Start by making your flax eggs. Combine flaxmeal and water in a small bowl and mix. Set aside for at least 5 minutes.

Next, prepare your 2 apples, which will dehydrate separately.

Remove the cores and cut them into thin slices. Try to get them all the same.

Lay the apple slices out on the dehydrator trays that don’t have sheets and pop them in the dehydrator.

Next, make the granola itself.

To a food processor add dates, 1 apple, coconut oil, lemon juice, orange juice, water and maple syrup. Process until you have a smooth mixture. You will need to stop and scrape the sides down so you don’t end up with any lumps.

Add the flax eggs when they’re ready and pulse to combine.

Add all of the dry ingredients to a large bowl and give them a mix.

To the bowl, add the wet mixture and stir well until everything is wet.

On the other two trays with sheets, spread out the mixture. You want it fairly evenly spread, but keep it clumpy so you have lots of chunky, crunchy bits once it’s all ready. You may need to use (your) damp hands to move everything about a bit.

Dehydrate at 115°F/46°C for 24 hours. Around halfway through, you can carefully remove the dehydrator sheet and do your best to turn all of the pieces over. If this seems like an impossible task, you should be fine to leave it be, it just may take a little longer to dry.

To test if your granola is ready, remove a piece from the dehydrator and let it cool for a couple of minutes, as this is when it will really crisp up. If it has a really good crunch, it’s good to go. The same goes for your apple slices. Take a piece out, let it cool for a few minutes and then it should snap in half. They may not be ready at exactly the same time, depending on the thickness of your apple slices.

When both the granola and apple slices are ready, mix everything together along with your goji berries or raisins if using.

Ensure the mix is completely cool before storing in an airtight container.

I absolutely love eating this granola with fresh fruit and plant milk blended up with banana.