I tried another new grain free snack yesterday – apple raisin bars. I got the recipe from Nourished and Nurtured (a great blog with lots of yummy-looking recipes!). These are so easy to make. I made them while I was making dinner 🙂  It is noisy to do all of the processing, but doesn’t take long at all. I used my crispy pecans instead of just soaked pecans. Still worked well. We haven’t actually eaten any bars yet, but I did taste a few chunks…very good!! They are a bit messy/soft even after a while in the fridge. So I stuck them in the freezer. We’ll have them for breakfast tomorrow and I’ll give a better verdict then. So far they seem like a very healthy, easy snack/breakfast. I patted the “dough” into a rectangle and cut it into 8 pieces (kind of like when I make scones).

The verdict…we all LOVE them! Rebecca has scarfed one down two days in a row for breakfast now. She’s requesting them. I guess I’ll have to make more dried apples so I can make more of these to have on hand. I love how healthy and easy they are. There isn’t even any added sugar. Awesome! We eat them straight out of the freezer (give them 1-2 minutes to soften).

Apple Raisin Bars

1 cup pecans (I used crispy pecans and skipped the soaking step below)
1 cup dried apples
1 cup raisins
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon, optional
unrefined coconut oil, for greasing your hands

Soak pecans in water with a pinch of sea salt for 12-24 hours. Rinse and drain well. Pulse nuts in a food processor until ground pretty well (but not too long or they’ll start turning into nut butter). Dump nuts into a bowl. Then place apples, raisins, salt, and optional spices in food processor and let it whir until well-combined and chopped. This will take longer than you think, but just let it keep going around and around. Then add back ground nuts and whir until well-combined. Dump it all onto a piece of wax paper. Then rub a bit of oil onto your hands to keep them from sticking to the mixture. Use your hands to do any last mixing necessary to get a consistent mixture, then form the mixture into a mound. Refrigerate for a couple hours, and then cut into pieces.

You can also vary the nuts and fruit to make other types. Lemon blueberry is delicious (made using almonds, dates, and dried blueberries with a little lemon zest).

I’ve been cutting back on grains lately to see how that impacts my gut and my fertility. And I recently came across a recipe on Heartland Renaissance for grain free granola. I just finished off my last batch of granola the other day, so it’s time to restock. It helped that I have crispy pecans, walnuts, almonds and pumpkin seeds on hand. So everything was all set to go. I didn’t follow this recipe completely. I never measure anything when I make granola. And I didn’t heat the oil/sugar. My coconut oil is always liquid these days from the heat 😛  I just chopped the nuts together (instread of separately). Then stirred in seeds, dried fruit, coconut oil and maple syrup. Very quick prep! The verdict…awesome! It’s actually better than the versions I’ve been making lately with soaked/dried oats. I’ll just have to remember not to eat too much at once now so I don’t go totally overboard on nuts in one sitting 😛

*Edited 4/7/11 – I tried making an unbaked version of this today. Worked great!! I keep the granola in the fridge, and it’s always hard anyway from the coconut oil. So I figured it wouldn’t change much if I didn’t bake it. I was right. Plus it makes less mess (no pan to clean up) and makes sure you’re not doing any harm to the wonderful crispy nuts 🙂  I only used honey to sweeten it today to make it GAPS legal. I’ll add to the recipe below to reflect this update.

This post is linked to Wheatless Wednesday at Naturally Knocked Up.
This post is linked to the Gluten Free Recipe Parade at Heavenly Homemakers.
This post is linked to Grain Free Tuesdays at Hella Delicious.

Grain Free Granola

2 cups almonds (I used a combo of crispy almonds, walnuts and pecans)
2 cups walnuts
1 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds
1 cup dried fruit of your choice, chopped into bite size pieces (I used a mix of homemade dried fruit – strawberries, pineapple, blueberries, cherries and raisins.)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup sesame seeds, optional (I didn’t add these.)
1/2 stick butter or coconut oil or combination of both (I have used both. A combo works very well)
1/2 cup brown cane sugar, sucanat, muscovado sugar, honey or maple syrup (I have used maple syrup and honey. A combo of sweeteners works well.)
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla (I didn’t add this, but it would be good)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a food processor, place the 2 cups of almonds and pulse a few times until they are chopped up. Some pieces will be much finer than others, which is what you want. Those little, fine pieces will remind you more of what granola is supposed to feel like (i.e. mimics a cereal grain in texture) while the big chunks are welcome as well. Pour almonds into a large mixing bowl. Do the same thing with the walnuts. (I did all the nuts at the same time.) Add the remaining seeds, fruit and coconut to the bowl and mix well.

In the meantime, combine butter/oil, sugar and honey over heat until combined. Take off heat and stir in vanilla.

Pour the hot liquid into the nut mixture and stir well until evenly combined and all pieces are coated.

Pour the granola out onto a greased (I use silpat), walled cookie sheet and spread out to an even layer. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until you can smell the nuts roasting. When done, remove and allow to briefly cool on the cookie sheet before decanting into your preferred storage jar while still warm, taking care not to allow it to cool completely on the cookie sheet as it can stick.

GAPS-legal Granola (modified, unbaked version)

4 cups any combination of crispy nuts (I have used walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, brazil nuts and peanuts)
1 cup crispy pumpkin or sunflower seeds
1 cup dried fruit of your choice, chopped into bite size pieces or raisins
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 – 1/2 cup coconut oil or butter or combination of both (dairy free w/o butter)
1/2 cup honey

In a food processor, place the nuts and pulse a few times until they are chopped up. Some pieces will be much finer than others, which is what you want. Those little, fine pieces will remind you more of what granola is supposed to feel like (i.e. mimics a cereal grain in texture) while the big chunks are welcome as well. Pour  into a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining seeds, fruit and coconut to the bowl and mix well.
In the meantime, combine butter/oil and honey over heat until combined.
Pour the hot liquid into the nut mixture and stir well until evenly combined and all pieces are coated.

Scoop granola into glass jars and let cool. Store in the refrigerator or freezer (for long term storage). Serve right from the fridge or let sit at room temp for a bit to soften. Serve in yogurt/kefir, with milk or plain.