This is soooo quick and easy. Slower when you’re photographing every step but really and truly it only takes a few minutes to put together when you have the coconut yogurt whey or whey from a milk kefir strain. The probiotics eat up some of the lectin content as well as the maple syrup and aid in getting it to stick together. So the end product once you’ve let it culture and then dehydrated it is a microbiome boosting morning cereal without all the sugar, fillers and binders you get in store bought granola. My kids and husband love it, and especially this simpler version. For a fancy take on it you can have a look at this recipe, and here for a grain free version. I have started doing this again to help with quick, nutritious and enjoyable breakfasts for the kids before we start homeschool. They really love it! Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Update- March 2021: I have found my kids favorite oats to use for this are Bob’s Red Mill Golden Spurtle oats. They are a bit more rough cut and create a crumble when doing this recipe with whey or a thin culture. See photo just below. If you want the oats to cluster use old fashioned style rolled.
Enjoy!
Brenna xo
Simple Probiotic Oat Granola
Equipment
- Large Bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Breville Smart Oven Air, dehydrator or oven
Ingredients
For Pre-Ferment:
- 2 cups organic jumbo whole or steel cut oats
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or raw honey
- 1-2 tbsp blackstrap molasses optional
- 2-3 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp pink salt
- 1 cup culturing liquid I have used ginger beer, milk kefir, coconut kefir, whey from either and water kefir with varying but equally nice results. Kombucha will work as well.
For Post Ferment:
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted, avocado oil or refined coconut oil if you don’t want a flavor. (Optional)
- 1/8 tsp pure monkfruit powder optional
Instructions
- Combine oats, cinnamon, pink salt, maple syrup and culturing liquid of choice in a large bowl.
- Stir several times in the first 1-2 hours to keep it from clumping.
- Leave covered for 12 hours or overnight.
- In the morning, add the oil and any back-sweetener you like. I prefer to use pure monkfruit powder, if anything. Much of the sugars will have been consumed by the culture but it will still be sweet.
- 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-160°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. If your oven only goes as low as 170°F then you can still effectively dry it but it will kill off quite a lot of the probiotics. Still yummy though!
- Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
