Raw, Grain Free Granola

I am riding an inspiration train of making my own food lately. What if I could make/grow/forage most things rather than the grocery store? Sometimes I take this to more extreme imaginings than others, but right now I am experimenting with direct farm purchased raw milk to make yogurt, and raw cream for my morning tea. Next up will be to try making butter, and then cheese from raw goat milk. 

Raw milk has lots of great benefits, and in MN the only legal way to purchase it is direct from the farm, in my case Humble Beginnings Family Farm. They are lovely - I held a baby goat that snuggled into my arms, met the baby turkeys and ducks, and 2 of the 7 human kids, both of whom were so great, and one who is also a redhead. :)

I also got some raw yogurt from the farm so that I have a culture to make more with (it is delicious). All to say, I am about to be flush in some yogurt, so I decided to make some granola (which is um, decidedly not local and requires the import purchasing of nuts, but I'm moving in stages here). Because it is hot, I decided to make it in the dehydrator, which then meant I might as well soak them first and get all the benefits of such a thing. Maybe I will feel totally amazing after some weeks of raw cultured dairy products and nuts free of phytic acid and increased nutrient availability? We will see!

I used these guidelines for nut and seed soaking, basically you soak in water and salt overnight, and then dehydrate at a low temp for 12 hours. 

I then riffed on this recipe for my granola, which turned out great. I used very little sweetener, so it is minimally sweet except for whatever dried fruit you add. Dehydrating the granola means it is less toasted, but still crispy, with all of the enzymes and nutrients intact.

• 1 c sesame seeds
• 1 c pumpkin seeds
• 1 c walnuts
• 1 c almonds
• 1 1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut 
• 2 T maple syrup (or more if you want a sweet taste)
  
• 1/3 c coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• splash of vanilla extract
  
• 1/2 c craisins or other dried fruit (opt)

1. Mix the nuts and seeds together. I opted to chop the walnuts and almonds up a bit (I just did it by hand), you could leave them whole or pulse them and the seeds in a food processor for a more crumbly granola.
2. Stir in the maple syrup, coconut oil, salt, cinnamon and vanilla until everything is coated.
3. Spread on dehydrator sheets (I used those tray sheets so as to not lose any bits through the mesh) and dehydrate at 115 degrees for 10-12 hours, until crunchy.
4. Mix in craisins (or dried fruit) if using. Keeps in the fridge for up to 6 weeks, or you can freeze. (Or keep in a cool dry place, likely for a month? Maybe more?)
   

Grain free biscuits (with scallion eggs and nettles)

Though Ramadan was over on Wednesday, this biscuit breakfast today felt like my first celebratory brunch of indulgence. (I did have celebratory steak dinner, and daily celebration of drinking things and eating during daylight! What glory. But biscuits feel even more special.) I made a half batch because I wanted only fresh biscuits, and of course I ate all three (though only 2 with greens and eggs)! 😊

I initially wanted a recipe for grain-free spinach/cheese/onion biscuits to make with nettles, but came across none. I do think I could try it with this recipe, so that will be on the agenda, because these biscuits were pretty remarkable. I would venture to say they are the most traditional biscuit I've had yet using grain free flour. The recipe creator names her numerous attempts to create a "southern style" biscuit, and I can tell. They really are quite perfect, even with the fact that I could not quite get my egg whites as stiff as I wanted. (I think I needed to whip my egg whites to more of a peak, but my old school-self generated spinning mixer just can't compete with electricity.)

The recipe requires egg whites, no yolks, so I just used the yolks as my scrambled eggs, and added my green onion and cheese to that. (Because I halved the recipe, I used 3 regularly large eggs.) For the greens, I chopped the steamed nettles up finely and then simmered them with a little coconut milk and salt until they were more creamy. The result was just what I wanted: buttery biscuit with soft eggs and greens. Yum!

Grain Free Biscuits (makes 6)

• 2 tablespoons unsalted grass fed butter
• 3/4 cup blanched almond flour 
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour 
• 2 tablespoons golden flax meal 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
• 5 extra large egg whites about 1/2 cup

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Grate/finely chop your butter in pea sized pieces and place in the freezer.
Mix all dry ingredients together.
Once butter is frozen, mix with dry ingredients, place in freezer.

Beat egg whites until fluffy and stiff enough to spoon. Mix into dry ingredients. 

Use an ice cream scoop to scoop batter, scooping out onto an oiled/parchment covered cookie tray.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Use a thin spatula to remove them. 

Grain-free brownies

Well, for no particular reason, other than we are in some weird times, I wanted to eat brownies. Also, because sometimes I can be a little rigid with myself - with intermittent fasting and wanting vegetables at each meal and all this business - I'm bringing in a little more intuitive eating. Like, maybe I will not have some major health fallout if I don't eat greens most days?!

So, I did not wait for my birthday, or someone else's birthday, and just made them. And so far, I am thoroughly enjoying my brownie encounters. These are good. Not overly sweet. Chocolatey, more dense than cake, but not fudge-like. Eating them feels really satisfying, unlike some treats I might get myself (the GF cream puffs at the co-op, for example) that actually are NOT that good, in the end. Last time I ate said cream puffs, they were dry and under-whelming. 

I recently saw a tiktok video by BlackForager (Alexis Nikole), who I LOVE, of her acorn flour pancakes. (I wish I was savvy enough to upload a tiktok video here, but alas, I am not.) It makes me think, hmmm, these brownies with acorn flour?! That would be the most stunning of treats, so maybe I'll see about making that happen. (Also check out her cattail song!)

So. These brownies are sweetened with dates and dark chocolate, and come together pretty easily in the food processor. One of my chocolate bars had some cayenne in it, which I get a little kick of in the brownies. I baked mine in a 9" cast iron skillet, though it was lined with parchment and my batter was fairly thick and didn't spread all the way out. The original recipe (another Mark's Daily Apple one) was baked in a 7" square baking pan, which reportedly resulted in thick brownies that could easily be thinner. So - go with something in this sort of size arena. (Note the original also has instructions for a keto, sugar-free version if you are interested.)

Ingredients (for 10-12 brownies)

• ¼ cup Salted Butter
• 3.5 oz. (100g) 70% Chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup Full Fat Coconut Milk
• 10 Dates, soaked (I used mostly Medjool, with a few Deglet)
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cup Almond Flour
• 5 Tbsp. Cacao Powder
• 2 Large Eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Set up a double boiler by filling a pot with a few inches of water and placing it over medium heat. Once it begins to boil, reduce to a simmer and place a heat-safe bowl on top of the pot. Add the chopped chocolate and butter to the bowl and gently mix using a spatula until the mixture is melted.

Soak the dates in hot water for at least 10 minutes. Drain the dates and add the dates, coconut milk and vanilla extract to a food processor. Blend until the mixture is fairly smooth, making sure to stop the processor occasionally to scrape down the sides. Add the chocolate and butter mixture and pulse a few more times. Add the almond flour and cocoa powder and pulse until combined. Add the eggs and blend until smooth.

Pour the brownie batter into a greased or parchment lined baking dish (a 7”x7” but made fairly thick brownies, so you can also use a larger dish). Feel free to top with chopped chocolate or walnuts. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until the center is fairly firm. Allow the brownies to fully cool before slicing.*

*I couldn't resist and ate some before they were all the way cool. They are better cool, FYI.