raw maple flax granola
my dad bought a dehydrator many years back, probably after being convinced by an infomercial that making his own jerky would change his life. but several years later it ended up sitting in the cabinet unused, along side the super slicer and turbo cooker. being that i was in the market for a good dehydrator the past few years, for preserving fruit and making my own raw food treats, i happily accepted it as my mom did some spring cleaning.
and being the granola snob that i am – very particular about the level of sweetness, texture, quality of fruits and combination of tastes – i’m happy that now i can just make it myself. i usually make it just like this, with some oats and some type of seed or nut, sweetened with maple syrup and dried to the perfect crunchy texture.
this is a simple 5-ingredient recipe to make a raw granola, but if you don’t have a dehydrator you can toast it in your oven over the lowest heat. feel free to experiment with your own flavors and let me know how it goes!
raw maple flax granola
2 c rolled oats
2/3 c flax seeds
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
1/2 c maple syrup
in a blender, add 1/3 c of the oats and 1/3 c of the flax seeds. blend until they are a fine powder. then mix it together with the rest of the whole oats and flax seeds. this helps to make more of a doughy consistency so the granola sticks together in bigger chunks rather than flaking into individual oats.
sprinkle in the salt, then lightly drizzle the oil and toss in so it’s as evenly distributed as possible. i use olive oil because it’s raw, it’s healthy, i have a lot on hand and it’s such a small amount that you can’t taste it. you can use any type of oil you’d like, i also suggest coconut, flax, hemp, avocado, or walnut. then you can get a healthy dose of good saturated fats or essential fatty acids as you snack on this treat!
finally pour in the maple syrup and mix it in.
depending on your dehydrator, you may want to put this on parchment paper that you’ve cut down to fit, or you may have something like a baking sheet that you already know fits. since i have a circular dehydrator i trace one of the trays over parchment paper, cut out the shape and poke some holes through it with the tip of a knife to make sure air can get through.
spoon the granola mixture onto the paper or baking sheet and press down no more than 1/2 inch thick. dehydrate for 6 hours until slightly dry, then break up into large chunks and dehydrate 6 more hours. if you are using your oven, turn it on the lowest heat (probably about 200F) and press the granola out on a cookie sheet. bake at this heat about 20-30 minutes, break up into chunks and bake some more. then store in a dry jar or bag.
this is a perfect breakfast with sunflower seed or oat milk. it also makes a great snack for a picnic or a hike. and you could make it lots of different ways. it’s very good with sesame seeds, hemp seeds or any kind of nut. try it with cinnamon and raisins, or bits of dried fruit. oh, and enjoy!
yields about 3 cups
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What a great granola, so simple! I have used my dehydrator in quite a while!
I wish I owned a dehydrator. I would make that granola asap. It looks really tasty.
could you do with a very low set over that has a convection function?
probably, the key is to keep the temperature low – under 200F if you can.
sesame seeds make granola taste so yummy. you should try it (put it in the mix, not the bowl at serve time).
Wow! This sounds great, and looks very tasty too.
I just discovered your blog and I must say that I am *smitten*. Your photography is so beautiful and every post is creative and looks just delicious.
coooool…I’ve never seen granola made in a food dehydrator before!
And I thought I was the only granola snob! Nice to meet you, granola snob! I am so picky when it comes to granola that I HAVE to make it myself, but I never considered making it raw. I will try the low oven temperature method until I get a dehydrator.
Thanks for sharing!
Is there any advantage of using the dehydrator over the oven? I have never heard of this method before. I have a dehydrator and would love to make more use of it.
Is it weird that I’m totally in love with that spoon in the first photo?! (The way it’s squared-off at the end instead of rounded really floats my boat…)
Anyway, that granola sounds (and looks!) fantastic! Yay for maple!
joanne – the dehydrator keeps the granola “raw” which some people think helps retain the nutritional content of the food. personally, i think it’s crunchy without being dry, so i prefer to dehydrate my granola.
jd – thanks! i picked the spoon just for that reason!
Great recipe, especially the dehydrator method, but I wonder about using whole flax seeds – don’t they just go right through you, undigested? And the ones you grind – Wikipedia says “Ground flaxseed can go rancid at room temperature in as little as one week.” Flax seeds are expensive, and my understanding is they have to be ground, then used at once.
i use a mixture of whole and ground flax just for texture. and i always try to chew well, but yes, if you don’t chew a flax seed it – like corn or many other nuts – will go undigested. that’s why thorough chewing is really important, but if that’s a concern then you can blend all the flax in this recipe.
i recently read about the anti-oxidizing value of flax decreasing considerably upon grinding – as it is exposed to air and oxidizes – but i don’t think it necessarily goes rancid. i’ve had old flax meal before and it doesn’t taste bad by any means and it definitely still contains fiber, but the essential fatty acids aren’t as beneficial. so try to always fresh grind it and eat food as soon as you can for maximum nutritional content, but it’s still edible if you leave it in your cabinet for a few weeks.
It looks like you maybe have a Nesco dehydrator? They sell solid plastic “fruit roll-up” sheets for around $10 for 2 on Amazon that you could reuse many more times than parchment and it would be more convenient. The recipe looks yummy; will have to try it tomorrow!
i have one of those, but i don’t like it. it isn’t flexible enough, so it is very hard to get things off of once they are dried. i find the parchment paper works much better because you can peel it away, and it still stays clean enough that you can use it a few times. thanks for the comment!
Just made this in the oven, on a parchment-covered sheet! I used flax meal, so only ground up the 1/3 cup oats. Otherwise, baked 200 for 20 mins, broke up into chunks, 250 for another 10-15 mins. About to enjoy a yummy bowl over yogurt…I think blanched nuts would be a wonderful addition, maybe not fruit because it’s already quite sweet with the syrup. Thanks for sharing!
I was searching for an uncomplicated raw granola recipe and yours looked absolutely perfect! I made it right away, though I decreased the maple syrup to 1/4 cup. I used coconut oil for my oil, and added 1/4 of unsweetened coconut flakes. I also soaked 1/3 cup of raw pumpkin seeds for 2 hours and added those. I also added 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon.
I LOVE the idea grinding a portion of the oats and flax seed because it really does help everything stick together. Now I’ll have to be patient with the dehydration process, but I’m sure it’ll be great!
THANK YOU!
glad you liked the recipe heidi!
This is THE BEST granola recipe. Just put some in the oven AGAIN. This time I chopped some cranberries in my magic bullet and put them in one of the two batches that I am making. I think that it will be divine! Thank you!
I just bought a dehydrator today. Your recipe looks amazing and it is going to be the 1st thing I dehydrate tomorrow. So excited! Thanks for sharing – I can’t wait to check out your other recipes.