It’s been over 16 months that I’ve been eating grain-free and I recently found a couple really good grain-free granola recipes I thought I’d share, since my last post was also granola related.   My web designer told me tigernut granola was the best food she had eaten in years.  She is also eating grain-free, so maybe our standards are low, but I think anyone would like these!

The recipes are from the blog, Beyond The Bite, by Gabriella Schneider.

Tigernuts are little tubers that folks say gave us much of our nutrition way back in Paleo days.  They are small, about the size of a marble, so I’m really glad I don’t have to farm them.  They are hard, very fibrous, and a little bit sweet.

Tigernut Fruit Granola (Gabriella’s Feb. 18, 2015 blog post)  is really my favorite. [Although I don’t use banana chips.  I just add more fruits.  One could add some nuts too.]

TIGERNUT GRANOLA
(Makes 4 Cups)
Ingredients

1 cup whole tigernuts (2 cups ground)
1 cup unsweetened banana chips
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup currants
1/4 cup coconut oil – melted
1/4 cup grade B maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp sea salt

Process

Place tigernuts in a bowl, cover with water, and allow to soak anywhere from 6-12 hours.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Once soaked, drain tigernuts and place in a food processor with the banana chips, pulsing until broken up into small pieces.
Transfer tigernut mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in shredded coconut and sea salt.
Melt coconut oil and pour into the mixing bowl, a long with the vanilla and maple syrup, stirring the mixture together with a spatula until evenly coated.
Scoop tigernut granola mixture onto the lined baking sheet, spread out evenly with the back of your spatula, and place the sheet in the preheated oven to bake for 35-40 minutes, until just beginning to brown around the edges.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the granola to cool completely before mixing with the currents, and storing in a mason jar either in the pantry or fridge.

Sweet Cinnamon Tigernut Granola 

Ingredients

1 cup whole tigernuts
2 cups shredded sweet potato
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated palm shortening
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup dried blueberries

Process

Place tigernuts in a small mason jar, cover with cold water, and allow to soak anywhere from 6-48 hours (the longer, the softer and more “plump” they will become – if soaking 48 hrs, change water at 24 hours)
Once the tigernuts have soaked, shred your sweet potato in a food processor, and transfer to a mixing bowl for later use.
Switch the shredder blade to the “s” blade, and pulverize the soaked tigernuts until chopped up.
Add the sweet potato back in and pulse a few times until everything is combined.
Pour the mixture back into the mixing bowl and fold in the cinnamon, sea salt, and blueberries.
Add in the applesauce and melted non-hydrogenated palm shortening, and mix until well combined.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Transfer the mixture to a parchment lined baking sheet and spread out evenly to all four corners of the sheet.
Place in the preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes, then turn the oven up to 400 degrees, and bake for 7 more minutes until brown and crisp around the edges.
Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, then transfer to a mason jar and eat as desired.

Notes:

I used freeze dried sour cherries instead of blueberries, but I’ve also made it with freeze dried pears, strawberries, and apples.  Dates would be good too.

You could substitute coconut oil for the palm shortening – and make sure your palm shortening is certified sustainable if you decide to use it.  The use of palm shortening in processed foods is creating  environmental havoc in some tropical regions.

A couple of warnings – The first time I made this recipe I used tiger nuts from a one pound package and didn’t think about sorting them for quality.   I liked it so much, I bought tiger nuts in bulk.  When it came to making the next batch of granola, I sorting through them carefully to make sure none had any ‘bug damage’.  That took a while, and I did discard a few of the tigernuts – much as when one is cooking potatoes, one has to look for spots in the potatoes to remove.  I don’t know if the first batch was pre-sorted or if I ate those bits that I excluded from the second batch, but both batches tasted fine.

Finally, be advised, if your body isn’t used to difficult to digest ‘resistant’ starch, which is a great pre-biotic food, you might want to build up slowly, if you eat a really big serving, which will be tempting,  you may find that you are clearing the room at inopportune moments! 😉