If you plan on making granola or granola bars anytime soon, take the few minutes it takes now to properly prepare them to make sure that you are getting the most out of your grains. I have yet to write an in-depth post about the true value of soaking/fermenting/sprouting grains but I will soon-promise! I at least wanted to write a tutorial on the best way to soak your oats so they don’t come out all soggy and damp. Doing it this way will make sure that you get nice and crunchy oats to be able to use them however you wish. I like to make up a big batch every so often to have on hand for things like making granola, granola bars, cookies, etc. Pre-soaking and then drying your oats also makes it easier to follow recipes that don’t have a soaking step involved.
What you need: (this recipe can easily be doubled)
4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup whole grain flour (this is to assist the oats in the break down of phytic acid process)
1 1/3 cups kefir, whey, or buttermilk-for a dairy free alternative you can do water and 4 or so tbls. vinegar or lemon juice- The latest research suggests that it’s best to just use plain filtered warm water
So you just combine the liquid in with the flour and oats, cover loosely and allow to sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. After the soaking process has taken place, you want to dry the oats out. To do this you can either put them in a couple shallow jelly roll type pans in your oven at the LOWEST temperature it can possibly go until completely dry OR put it in your dehydrator for a couple of hours. I much prefer the dehydrator because I know the temperature is low enough to where I don’t really have to watch it. But if you don’t have one then I would just watch it in the oven. I’ve only ever tried it in the dehydrator (you can get one on the cheap on Craig’s list. The one I have is literally from the 80′s. It was a hand-me-down from my Mom. Works like a charm though) so I’m not exactly sure how long it will take in the oven. My guess would be a couple of hours. Just keep an eye on it.
You can now store them just as you would regular rolled oats, so long as all the moisture is removed. If you intend on using them in a recipe right away then they don’t have to be completely dry, you just might meed to adjust them baking time accordingly. But you will want to pulse them in your blender or food processor for a couple of seconds before you plan on using them as they will be rather clumpy like the picture above shows. When you run them through the blender they will look more like regular oats before you even started the process!
And that’s IT! SO EASY!
[...] which contains mercury half the time. These granola bars are a healthy snack, especially when you to soak your granola to break down the phytic acid content and make to make the grain more digestible. Even if you forgot [...]