a simple real food recipe :: pumpkin apple granola :: dairy, gluten, and egg free with nut free option

One of the baby steps I love helping people make is getting cold cereal out.

That is a hard one. Well at least people think it will be at first.

But it is worth it. Cold cereals are toxic. The process the grains go through to become a flake, an “O”, or whatever shape your cereal is in completely destroys the nutrition of the grain and even makes it toxic (even organic, gluten free, etc). No wonder we have so many gut sensitivities! (HERE is a great article on the dangers of cold cereal).

So what’s for breakfast then?!

I grew up on cereal too. This was a HUGE change for me. Take some baby steps. I know on busy mornings whipping up a quick bowl of cereal is easy. I know it seems easier to throw a few of those O’s on the highchair tray while you are making stuff in the kitchen. I felt the same way. But what I have found is with just a little planning, you can have just as quick, and even quicker breakfast options. Some even more portable than a bowl of cereal.

I have found simple eggs and hashbrown breakfasts are not only cheaper but by batching up those potatoes it can be really quick. Batching up breakfast breads (try this or this) is not only way more filling than a bowl of cereal, but much more portable!

Batching up granola cereal is another way of getting great breakfast, in what seems like a “cereal form”. Of course you could buy granola cereal at your farmers markets or health food stores, but you are gonna pay for it. The first time I made granola cereal was a couple years ago after buying a small $6 bag of granola that fed my hubby and I for 2 breakfasts each. Ummm yeah, not very cost effective!

So I set out to figure out my own! I have a “base recipe” but I doctored it up a bit to make it more “fall” appropriate 🙂 I hope you love it as much as we do!

You’ll need:
8 cups oats (Not quick oats. If you are gluten free be sure they say gluten free – like Bob’s Red Mill)
2 cups raw sunflower seeds
2 cups raw almonds, crushed (if you are nut free do more seeds – flax, hemp, chia, pumpkin, etc) (the bulk raw almonds at our grocer are the least expensive option.)
2 cups raw pumpkin seeds, crushed (if it’s not the season for your own pumpkin seeds just do more of the other nuts or sunflower seeds – I only do this in the fall when I scoop out my own – they are so expensive in the store)
½ cup whey, whole yogurt, or lemon juice for soaking
2 TB sea salt for soaking
Filtered water for soaking
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup applesauce (if you want to make your own HERE is my method!)
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut (the bulk shredded coconut at our health food store is cheapest)
1 cup raisins
2 ½ TB pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
½ cup maple syrup (or honey. I get both of these in bulk locally.)
1 tsp sea salt

1. The night before you want to make your granola, put the oats, nuts, seeds, whey, and sea salt in a large mixing bowl. Cover with filtered water (stir around to combine). Let the mixture sit in a warm spot in your kitchen overnight a good 12 hours. This process breaks down the phytic acid in the grain and nuts/seeds so they are easier to digest!
2. After the overnight soak, drain the oat mixture in a colander in the sink for about 5-10 minutes.
3. Dump back into the large mixing bowl and add in the rest of the ingredients stirring well to combine.
4. Divide the mixture between 3 greased (with coconut oil or butter) or silpat/parchment paper lined baking sheets.
5. Bake at 200 degrees for 12 hours, OR 250 degrees for 6 hours, stirring every 2-3 hours and breaking up the chunks/flipping them over, until everything is dried out and crispy. You could do a higher heat for shorter time – I like to go low to maintain the properties of the oils in the nuts and seeds, and because I don’t mind having the oven on if I’m home for the day anyway, it’s a cool day, and if it’s gonna make the house smell delicious all day! Do what you can though!

Kitchen Tips:

1. This batch makes up 5 quart freezer bags. I put 4 in the freezer and leave 1 out. We go through 1 bag a week, rarely more than that. We don’t have it every day. So I batch this up once a month or longer. If you think you will need more, just double the recipe! You may have to do the higher heat and shorter time so you can get it all dried up in one day since you will need to do up 6 trays. That is what I would do anyway!
2. I crush up the seeds and nuts in the processor pretty small since I have little mouths trying to eat it. If you like bigger chunks it will work that way too.
3. I have done the 12 hour soak during the day and dehydrating while we sleep at night – I’m usually up with one of the babies in the night, or up for a bathroom trip once in the night (thanks to having babies!) so I just give it a stir when I’m up 😉
4. I keep the oven light on while dehydrating so I don’t forget about them – hard to forget since it infiltrates your home with the delicious smell!
5. Change up the dried fruit – if I had a real dehydrator I would dehydrate apples for this recipe. I have seen similar recipes using dried cranberries too! I just always have raisins and they are cheaper. You can add more dried fruit if you wish. My husband doesn’t care for it so I don’t put much in.
6. Change up the spice! Instead of pumpkin pie you could do straight up cinnamon, or you could go savory/spicy if that is your thing.
7. You could do a pear puree vs the applesauce.
8. You could do all pumpkin puree or all applesauce if that is all you’ve got!
9. If you don’t have pumpkin seeds from carving out your fall pumpkins (I  NEVER buy them – they are ridiculously expensive) you could do 2 cups of chia seeds or 2 more cups of raw sunflower seeds.
10. Serve your granola with whole milk or crushed in whole yogurt! If you are dairy free go for coconut milk or coconut yogurt!
11. You can make the pieces of granola as big or as crushed up small as you want. I keep them pretty medium sized so my husband can take a dry baggie full for work easily. I end up crushing the granola up a bit more for the girls to eat since it is so crunchy and they have such little mouths. I puree it up in milk for my youngest since she doesn’t have all her teeth yet 🙂

YOUR TURN!

Let’s chat cereal – I truly want to help you figure out how to get it out of the house if it is something you want to do – let me know if I can help you brainstorm! Let me know if you make up the granola and how you like it!

This post was shared at Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday, Real Food Freaks Freaky Friday, and Too Many Jars In My Kitchen’s Fill Those Jars Friday, and Butter Believer’s Sunday School!