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!
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.