Sourdough cherry granola is a simple, traditionally prepared breakfast cereal that incorporates fresh cherries with a touch of maple syrup and honey. No baking required and only five ingredients! It doesn’t get much easier.
When I was in college I got hooked on granola. I have no idea what brand they had, but the granola in the cereal bins in our cafeteria was amazing!
Just thinking about it makes me want a bowl. Granola and milk…two things I miss dearly.
I looked forward to it every single day. Yes, I said every day.
If you’ve been around here long you know that eating the same foods every day often leads to an intolerance or even allergy. Which is why I now am on a rotational diet.
Can you guess what I can’t eat now? Oats. Which means no traditional granola.
There are alternatives.
I’ve made alternative versions of granola over the years like grain free granola and soaked cereal.
Nuts have been out of my diet for a long time now. And lately my little one reacts to so many things that my grain options are dwindling…even many of my usual gluten free grains.
Instead I use a lot of sourdough right now (but of course I try not to eat it every day!)
What do you do with bowls full of cherries?
After cherry picking recently I was trying to brainstorm new ways to use up cherries. I decided to try my hand at making granola using my sourdough starter with added cherries for a sweet twist.
Making granola could not get any simpler! There are only five ingredients in sourdough cherry granola. All you do is mix and dehydrate.
The result is a sweet, fruity, crunchy cereal perfect for snacking or an easy summer breakfast.
- 2 1/2 cups sourdough starter
- 1 cup sweet cherries, pitted
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp. unrefined sea salt
- optional: 1/2 tsp. baking soda to make it a bit softer
- optional after drying: chopped nuts, dried fruit, coconut flakes, min chocolate chips
- 3 - 9 hours before making the granola feed your sourdough starter so you have at least 3 1/2 cups.
- Puree the cherries in a blender.
- Mix the cherry puree, sourdough starter, honey, syrup and salt (and soda if using).
- Pour the mixture onto parchment lined dehydrator trays (this filled two trays in my Excalibur).
- Dry on the highest setting until crisp (this took about 15 hours for me).
- Break the granola into small pieces for granola or large pieces for crackers.
- Store in a sealed container in the cupboard or in the freezer for long term storage.
- You can replace the cherries with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or a combination of fruit.
- You can use all honey or all maple syrup. The combination gives a neutral/mild sweet flavor.
There is also no need to worry about oats!
Are oats really that great?
It’s funny that oats are such a staple in our culture. Oatmeal is thought of as the “perfect breakfast” and great for heart health. But I find that many people have a really hard time digesting oats. Even my mom (that doesn’t know a ton about real food) thinks they are hard on your stomach.
And if they are not properly prepared they are extra hard on your gut due to the high phytic acid content.
I attempted to eat oats once recently…and my baby had such horrible reflux or stomach pain (she can’t tell us which yet) that she just screamed. So it’s nice to have an alternative to the traditional oat-based cereals.
But how does it taste?
Now let’s get to the really important part – what my kids think.
They love it!
To be honest we haven’t been eating it as cereal much. But we have been munching on it a lot!
Sourdough cherry granola is the perfect finger food for snacks whether at home or on the go. It is not messy and stays good at room temperature.
I kept my sourdough cherry granola simple. If you want to spruce it up you can add dried fruit, nuts, coconut flakes or chocolate chips after it is dried and crumbled.
Not a cereal fan? Break the dried sheets into larger chunks for crackers!
Sourdough cherry granola is a great way to use fresh summer fruit. If you want to change it up you can swap blueberries, strawberries or raspberries for the cherries.
Give yourself a break.
This summer let yourself sleep in once in a while and wake up to a simple, no prep breakfast. Pour raw milk over your sourdough cherry granola or sprinkle the granola on a dish of whole milk yogurt.
Take five minutes and five ingredients to get sourdough cherry granola going. Then let your dehydrator do the work. Stock your pantry and your freezer with this delicious breakfast.
Are you a granola fan? What is your favorite version?
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Do you think this would work with brown rice sourdough starter? It sounds so yummy!
I have never used a brown rice starter, Stacie. But I don’t see why not! That sounds really good!