Probiotic Grain Free Granola (vegan, paleo and keto options)
I have taken to soaking and drying nuts, fermenting seeds and generally working on making everything in my pantry a little less inflammatory as I mentioned in my previous post for probiotic granola. The Nourishing Traditions cookbook suggests fermenting small seeds before eating them rather than soaking and drying or sprouting. Hempseed, Flax and Chia great with this method because they’re too small to soak and dry.My personal preference for culturing this is coconut kefir but for the hubs I have used ginger beer as well. If I know I will be eating it I keep the sugars to 1-2 Tbsp of pure maple syrup, blackstrap molasses or raw honey for the fermentation process. I do not love things overly sweet and neither does my body so this works for me. You can try any non-salty culturing liquid you like! 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 but I personally do not use whey or ginger beer any longer because I find them highly inflammatory. Whey because it is naturally inflammatory and ginger because I have recently discovered I am allergic to it
1Tbsp- 1/4 cup maple syrupblackstrap molasses or raw honey
1/2-1cupculturing liquid
2-4tspcinnamon
1/2tsppink or kosher salt
1/4cupslivered almonds or other nutsoptional, I have a mild allergy to nuts so I don’t add them to mine
1/4cupdried fruit like unsulphered goji berriesraisins, blueberries or for keto, fresh or dried cranberries
Diced fruit: applepear etc (optional)
FOR POST FERMENT:
1/4cupcoconut oilmelted
1/4cupunsweetened shredded coconut or coconut chips
5-10drops Stevia or monk fruit drops to tasteoptional
Instructions
Combine dry ingredients in a medium size bowl
Add fermenting liquid, maple syrup or 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.
After the ferment is finished, add the 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 because of its antifungal properties.
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 while it is still soft or it will get too crispy and crumble. A few hours into drying is a key time.
Dehydrate at 150° – 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 like a salad.
Notes
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.