A recipe for homemade soaked granola with flaked grains, nuts, seeds and dried fruit

Recently I’ve been trying to wean us off cereals – by wean, I mean I’ve just stopped buying it, which for poor Mr Rigg has meant going cold turkey on cereals at breakfast.

If you’re interested why I’m keen to steer away from cereals it’s because I’ve come to realise that there isn’t much good in them, despite what they like to tell us on their TV adverts.

We had this lovely recipe for granola that we used to make, which was delicious both with milk and yoghurt.  The only problem is that I’ve also developed an interest in how grains were traditionally prepared, and how they used to be soaked before drying.

This is because things like grains and nuts and seeds have enzyme inhibitors in them, which unless soaked first, prevent us from absorbing all the goodness in them like vitamins and minerals.

I am no expert on this subject, if you’re keen to know more I recommend taking a look at the Weston A Price Foundation to do your own reading.  I would just like to think that if I’m attempting to eat better and more ‘healthy’ that the foods I’m choosing are giving me everything they can.

Lacking in cereals and with only sourdough toast for Mr Rigg’s breakfast, I decided I needed to attempt our granola recipe (adapted from a fab little book called A Cook’s Guide To Grains by Jenni Muir) but with the addition of the soaking and drying process.  So after a quick online search I decided to use some advice from this recipe for raw soaked granola.

Rather than tell you how I made it and then post the recipe or let you decipher it from my garbled instructions, I’m just going to attempt to clearly share the recipe below.

All in all, it has made an incredibly delicious granola that I am personally addicted to.  The main downside of this is that what was made for Mr Rigg is now being consumed at a great rate by myself also (5 bowls within 24 hours of making it…) and as such it is going down quickly!

*Please note, this recipe requires overnight soaking and a great deal of patience for the drying out process!

If you don’t want to do the soaking and drying process, do try my original granola recipe which just involves mixing everything together and bunging in the oven.

Homemade Soaked Granola

For the grains:

4 cups of jumbo oats
2 cups of barley flakes
2 cups of rye flakes
8 cups of water
6 tbsp whole organic yoghurt

or

8 cups of jumbo oats
8 cups of water
6 tbsp whole organic yoghurt

1. Take a large bowl (or two if needed) and add your grains, yoghurt and water.  I mixed my yoghurt into the water first.  I also used 4 cups of oats and 4 cups of other mixed grains, so I kept these separate and divided up the water/yoghurt mixture.

2. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to soak overnight.

3. The next day, preheat the oven to no more than 50°C.

4. Drain the grains through a sieve and use a spoon to squeeze out as much water as you can.

5. Spread the grains out as thinly as possible on a tray(s) and pop in the oven.

They will take at least 6 hours to dry out, maybe more (I’m a bit impatient and gave mine about 6 hours).  During that time it’s worth checking the grains and breaking them up and moving them around (the top tends to dry out and the bits touching the tray stay moist).  I found that the oats worked well but that the mixed grains really clumped up, which is why I gave the above recipe for just oats only – do this if you want an easier time of it!

6. Once they are dry leave them to cool.

(left) grains soaking; (right) soaked grains ready for drying

For the nuts and seeds:

1 cup of hazelnuts
1 cup of sunflower seeds
1 cup of pumpkin seeds
5 cups of water

Start the nuts the same night as you put your grains on to soak.

1. Take a large bowl and add your nuts, seeds and water.

2. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to soak overnight.

3. The next day, preheat the oven to no more than 50°C.

4. Drain the nuts and seeds through a sieve.

5. Spread them out on a tray(s) and pop in the oven.

Like the grains, they will take at least 6 hours to dry out.

Other ingredients:

Raisins and dried apricots (however much you want), cut into small pieces
Jar of honey

(left) granola going into the oven; (right) bowl of granola with raw milk

How to make the granola:

Once you have done all the processes above you can now make the granola.

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C.

2. Into a large tray mix together the soaked and dried grains, nuts, seeds and the cubed dried fruit.

3. Mix well.

4. Take your jar of honey and drizzle generously over the granola.

5. Pop in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes stirring occasionally.

6. Take out of the oven and allow to cool before putting it into a big glass jar with a lid.

Best enjoyed in our household with lashings of raw milk!