Probiotic Granola. Really.

For this day of remembrance and rest I am using one of my many recipes I haven’t gotten around to posting.  It is appropriate… a bit if mixing in the morning and leave it out all day and dry it overnight.  Tasty.  Nutritious.  It feels odd to say Happy Memorial Day for a day to remember all those who died.  But it is cause for celebration because those who died certainly deserve to be celebrated.  So today is a day to be present with family.  To remember our own who have served and died.  Thank you.

For the recipe: lately I have taken to soaking and drying nuts, fermenting seeds and generally working on making everything in my pantry a little less inflammatory. I was reading Nourishing Traditions and was captured again by the idea of fermenting small seeds before eating them. Hempseed, Flax and Chia especially are a difficult one because they’re too small to soak and dry. My husband loves granola so I decided to veer a little from her 5 grain porridge recipe and try some more palatable grains (to hubs and kidlets), seeds and pseudo grains.

This one is a basic recipe for using Oats and Quinoa as the base. I regularly do a grain free version but I’ll save it for another post.  Much of the sugars are consumed by the live cultures during the fermenting stage.  I always feel a bit skeptical about this but I do notice that I don’t have quite the inflammatory reaction as I do when consuming say, maple syrup straight up.  Science supports that it is eaten up as well so I guess it involves a bit of faith to believe it!

Ingredients:

For Pre-Ferment:

• 1 cup jumbo whole or steel cut oats (I like To use Bob’s Red Mill Golden Spurtle)
• 1 cup quinoa, lightly toasted
• 1/4-1/2 cup maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it and if you are using it as cereal or cutting it into bars.
• 1-2 Tbsp blackstrap molasses (optional)
• 1 cup culturing liquid (I have used ginger beer, milk kefir and coconut kefir with varying but equally nice results.) Water kefir, kombucha and whey will work as well.
• 1-2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pink or kosher salt
• 1/4 -1/2 cup any seeds or nuts you like (optional)
• Dried fruit like unsulphered goji berries, raisins, blueberries or cranberries

For Post-Ferment:

• 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted) or avocado oil
• 5-10 Stevia or monk fruit drops to taste (optional)
• Diced fruit: apple, pear etc (optional)

Method:

1. Toast quinoa in a baking sheet at 250°F for 10 minutes
2. Rinse quinoa in a mesh sieve to remove the protective bitter coating (saponin).
3. Coat the Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker container with coconut oil (I use a spray bottle) and add the quinoa. Cover with 1 3/4 cups water.
4. Cook on high pressure for 1 minute. It will fully release pressure in 10 minutes. Let cool.
5. Combine oats, quinoa, seeds and fruit in a large bowl
6. Add fermenting liquid, maple syrup, blackstrap, salt and cinnamon or other spices.
7. Stir several times in the first 1-2 hours to keep it from clumping.
8. Leave covered for 12 hours or overnight. If you are using chia seeds you may need to add more fermenting liquid or water.
9. In the morning, add three coconut oil and any back sweetener you like. I use monk and stevia. Much of the sugars will have been consumed by the culture but it will still be sweet. Raw honey is also a good choice here.
10. Lay out on a large parchment in a perforated baking sheet (you can use a normal baking sheet but it will take mug longer to dry). I use the fryer basket for my Breville Air Oven.
11. If you want it for bars you will need to pre-cut it now. Or a few hours into drying or it will get too crispy and crumble.
12. Dehydrate at 150°F for 8-12 hours. If it doesn’t breathe as in a standard baking sheet it can take up to 24 hours and you’ll need to break it up and flip or “toss” it.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. I like to use a dehydrator to keep the probiotics alive. But if you don’t care about that you can just bake it in the oven at low temperature of 170°F for about 8 hours.

Probiotic Granola

Lately I have taken to soaking and drying nuts, fermenting seeds and generally working on making everything in my pantry a little less inflammatory. I was reading Nourishing Traditions and was captured again by the idea of fermenting small seeds before eating them. Hempseed, Flax and Chia especially are a difficult one because they’re too small to soak and dry. My husband loves granola so I decided to veer a little from her 5 grain porridge recipe and try some more palatable grains (to hubs and kidlets), seeds and pseudo grains.This one is a basic recipe for using Oats and Quinoa as the base. I regularly do a grain free version but I’ll save it for another post. Much of the sugars are consumed by the live cultures during the fermenting stage. I always feel a bit skeptical about this but I do notice that I don’t have quite the inflammatory reaction as I do when consuming say, maple syrup straight up. Science supports that it is eaten up as well so I guess it involves a bit of faith to believe it!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Equipment

• Pressure Cooker
• Cast Iron Pan or Cookie Sheet with Silicone Mat
• oven
• Bowl
• Mesh Sieve

Ingredients

  

FOR PRE-FERMENT:

• 1 cup jumbo whole or steel cut oats I like To use Bob’s Red Mill Golden Spurtle
• 1 cup quinoa lightly toasted
• 1/4-1/2 cup maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it and if you are using it as cereal or cutting it into bars.
• 1-2 Tbsp blackstrap molasses optional
• 1 cup culturing liquid I have used ginger beer, milk kefir and coconut kefir with varying but equally nice results. Water kefir, kombucha and whey will work as well.
• 1-2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pink or kosher salt
• 1/4 -1/2 cup any seeds or nuts you like optional
• Dried fruit like unsulphered goji berries raisins, blueberries or cranberries

FOR POST-FERMENT:

• 1/2 cup coconut oil melted or avocado oil
• 5-10 Stevia or monk fruit drops to taste optional
• Diced fruit: apple pear etc (optional)

Instructions

 

• Toast quinoa in a baking sheet at 250°F for 10 minutes
• Rinse quinoa in a mesh sieve to remove the protective bitter coating (saponin).
• Coat the Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker container with coconut oil (I use a spray bottle) and add the quinoa. Cover with 1 3/4 cups water.
• Cook on high pressure for 1 minute. It will fully release pressure in 10 minutes. Let cool.
• Combine oats, quinoa, seeds and fruit in a large bowl
• Add fermenting liquid, maple syrup, blackstrap, salt and cinnamon or other spices.
• Stir several times in the first 1-2 hours to keep it from clumping.
• Leave covered for 12 hours or overnight. If you are using chia seeds you may need to add more fermenting liquid or water.
• In the morning, add three coconut oil and any back sweetener you like. I use monk and stevia. Much of the sugars will have been consumed by the culture but it will still be sweet. Raw honey is also a good choice here.
• Lay out on a large parchment in a perforated baking sheet (you can use a normal baking sheet but it will take mug longer to dry). I use the fryer basket for my Breville Air Oven.
• If you want it for bars you will need to pre-cut it now. Or a few hours into drying or it will get too crispy and crumble.
• Dehydrate at 150°F for 8-12 hours. If it doesn’t breathe as in a standard baking sheet it can take up to 24 hours and you’ll need to break it up and flip or “toss” it.
• Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. I like to use a dehydrator to keep the probiotics alive. But if you don’t care about that you can just bake it in the oven at low temperature of 170°F for about 8 hours.

Notes

Using an instant pot to cook the quinoa obliterates the harmful, gut harming lectins that are so potent in this pseudo-grain. But with proper preparation, it is beneficial.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. I like to use a dehydrator to keep the probiotics alive. But if you don't care about that you can just bake it in the oven at low temperature of 170°F for about 8 hours.