Raw Granola Recipe, Best Granola Made with Nuts and Seeds

These granola recipes are two of our top favorites, made raw and dehydrated as opposed to heated or baked. Commonly associated with the hippie health movement, granola was originally made from rolled oats, nuts and honey topped with raisins or other dried fruit.

Today, most commercial store-bought varieties are far from this basic recipe containing refined oils, fats and sugar along with a long list of fillers and unnecessary ingredients that seriously lack anything remotely nutritious.

Here, we share our apple-cinnamon and coconut-almond recipes for a nut and seed based granola alternative to the traditional oat-based, oven-toasted version.

Dehydrated granola, when it is prepared correctly, is a crunchy and flavorful taste sensation and makes a great breakfast meal or snack food. With quite a long shelf life, it can be made in large batches and stored in an airtight container for those occasions when you crave a bowl of cereal splashed with cold almond milk. Homemade granola also makes a great cereal substitute for young children, who usually love to help make it as well as eat it.

These granola recipes can also be used to make granola bars that can be wrapped and packed for traveling, hiking, backpacking or as a fast food for those on the go.

Although we have found most commercial brands of "raw granola" to be quite delicious, they are also very pricey for the amount that you actually get in one small package. If you are avid granola lover's, like we are, these portions won't last you more than a couple of days.

Making your own homemade-style raw granola is not only way more cost effective but also gives you a gallon jar's worth of granola for the same price as many of the packaged raw variations you find at most health food stores. This is especially true if you use some of the more inexpensive nuts and seeds, like sunflower, coconut and pumpkin, as a bulk part of your recipe. 

Nothing beats a batch of freshly made raw vegan granola right from the dehydrator. When you make your own from scratch you also get to tailor it to your own personal tastes and health goals, using fresh whole ingredients, different spices and natural sweeteners.

Once you have down the granola-making basics, you can experiment with other kinds of sweeteners or super fruit combinations, using mulberries, golden berries, acai, maqui and even durian. The same is true for the different types of nuts and seeds, like pecan, hemp seed, pili nut, brazil nut and hazel nut. In this one we use different combinations of the more alkaline nuts and seeds, instead of rolled oats as the base.

The basic method for making a good raw granola is a two step process. 

1. First you soak your nuts and seeds, straining, rinsing and processing them into a fine meal or slightly coarse texture.
   
2. The next step is to make a sticky sweet paste of some kind to help bind the nut-seed meal together. The added chia (or flax) powder also helps to achieve this goal.
   

These essential steps help to produce the perfect granola-type texture.

Another trick is to also get the balance between the nut meal and sweetener or fruit paste just right so you create a crunchy rather than chewy texture or hard tooth-breaking one.

We additionally like to use some amount of almonds in our granola recipes because, when they are soaked and dehydrated, help to provide a toasted flavor similar to oven-baked granola.

In our apple-cinnamon granola we use one fresh apple as well as dried raisins, figs and a little bit of goji and stevia. It turns out to be the perfect balance of sweetness, not too much, not too little, but just right.

Our coconut-almond granola is slightly sweeter using both raw honey and coconut nectar along with a small amount of green stevia powder to accent the sweet taste.

Raw Granola Recipes

Apple Cinnamon Granola

• 1C sunflower seeds
• 1C almonds
• 1C pumpkin seeds
• 1T ground chia seed (or flaxseed)
• 1 med pink lady apple (or fuji apple)
  
• 1/2C raisins
• 1/2C black mission figs
• 1/8C goji berries
• 1t stevia powder (or a dropper full of stevia solution)
• 1T cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt

1. Soak almonds and seeds overnight.
2. Soak raisins, figs and goji overnight in just enough water to cover them.
3. Strain and rinse nuts, but not soaked fruit.
   
4. Process almonds and seeds in food processor, grinding them up into a desired granola texture. Add to a big bowl.
   
5. In a blender, purée the soaked fruit (with soak water), cinnamon, chopped apple, salt and stevia.
6. Add the puréed paste to the bowl, along with 1T chia powder, and thoroughly mix ingredients.
   
7. Spread onto a dehydrator sheet using a screen with a teflex sheet on top.
8. Dehydrate for 3-4 hours on medium then flip your sheet over onto the screen.
9. Cut the square in half and break up into granola size pieces, using two dehydrator screens so there is plenty of air space.
   
10. Dehydrate for another 8 to 12 hours or so, until dry and crunchy.
11. Store your granola in a glass jar or airtight container. Will last for many weeks in a cool, dry dark location.
    

This raw granola recipe makes approximately 2 quart jars worth of granola. We usually end up doubling it to fill a gallon glass jar or use half of the recipe to make granola bars.

It is a great thing to make in preparation for travel when you want a quick easy snack or instant breakfast. Pour it into a bowl with a little nut milk and your good to go.

This granola recipe can also be made into "granola bars" by spreading out the mix twice as thick and cutting it into bars. Usually we like to add whole soaked goji berries when we make it this way.

• 1C sunflower seeds
• 1C shredded coconut
• 1/2C pumpkin seeds
• 1/2C almonds
• 1/2C almonds chopped
• 1T ground chia seed (or flaxseed)
• 1/2C raw honey
• 2T coconut nectar
  
• 1/8t stevia powder
  
• 1T melted coconut oil
• 1/2t vanilla powder or 1/2 scrapped vanilla bean
• pinch of sea salt
    
  

1. Soak almonds, coconut and seeds in a full quart jar of water overnight. Soak chopped almonds in a separate jar.
2. Strain water and rinse.
   
3. Process soaked whole almonds, sunflower, pumpkin and coconut in a food processor, grinding them up to desired granola texture. Add to a big bowl.
   
4. In a separate small bowl whisk together honey, coconut nectar, stevia, vanilla, and melted coconut oil.
   
5. Add the this blend, along with drained chopped almonds and 1T chia powder, to the nut-seed mixture, thoroughly mixing ingredients.
   
6. Spread onto a dehydrator sheet using a screen with a teflex sheet on top.
7. Dehydrate for 5-6 hours on medium then flip your granola sheet over onto the screen.
8. Cut the square in half and break up into granola size pieces, using two dehydrator screens so there is plenty of air space.
   
9. Dehydrate for another 8 to 12 hours or so, until dry and crunchy.
10. Store your granola in a glass jar or airtight container. Will last for many weeks in a cool, dry dark location.

This is another second favorite granola recipe with a delicious coconut-almond flavor and crunch.  Makes approximately 2 quart jars of granola.