I love pre-fermented granola for breakfast. It’s quick, healthy and filling, with a deliciously crunchy taste that pairs nicely with fresh fruit and milk kefir (my preferred way to eat it).
Why Pre-ferment?
I started pre-fermenting granola because it makes the oats easier to digest, so I don’t feel sluggish and full after breakfast. However, I quickly discovered that it is also great way to make a crunchy toasted cereal without using a ton of sweetener. The pre-fermenting process causes the oats to break down and clump together in granola clusters.
Best of all, homemade granola is the perfect way to experiment with your own favourite flavour combinations!
Mixing up your granola
The best part of making your own granola is that you can mix it up in all sorts of different ways! Here are a few suggestions:
- Substitute up to 2 cups of the oats with rolled spelt/rye/barley.
- After cooking, mix store-bought cereal into granola to make it less dense. Try mixing in crispy rice puffs or cereal flakes at a ratio of 1 part granola to 2 parts cereal.
- Add flax seeds, sesame seeds, hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds or chia seeds after the granola has cooked for some healthy omega fats and added fiber.
- Adding dried fruits after cooking is a great way to naturally sweeten granola.
- Mix in some super foods to kick-start your day: bee pollen, maca powder or whatever else your body desires.
Fermented Granola
Fermenting granola before cooking is a great way to make a crunchy, toasted granola without using any additional sweetener. It is a healthy and nutritious way to start your day.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 10 cups 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Fermented
- Cuisine: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Pre-Ferment
- 8 cups of rolled oats
- 2 cups mixed nuts and seeds
- 1 cup culture (see notes)
- 2 cups of filtered water
Remaining Ingredients
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/2 cup of liquid sweetener (optional)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix together the oats, seeds, culture and water. Allow to soak for 30 min or up to 12 hours. Mix the soaking granola at least three times during the first 2 hours of the ferment to keep it from forming large clumps at the bottom of the bowl.
- When you are ready to bake, mix in the remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly to combine. Feel free to skip the sweetener in this recipe and use fresh fruit instead.
- Spread the granola mixture out in an even layer on 2 large cookie sheets and toast at 300 F (150C) for 1-2 hours, stirring every half an hour until it’s crispy.
- Allow to cool before mixing in any dried fruit, cereal flakes, etc. See section above for more delicious options.
- Store in an air-tight container and eat within 1 month.
Notes
- Pre-fermenting this granola recipe is optional. If you’re short on time, mix in the liquid and allow it to sit for at least 30 minutes so that you can enjoy a crunchy with granola without much added sweetener.
- Any fermented liquid will work for culturing granola. Dairy products, vegan dairy products or sourdough starter will all work well.
- Liquid sweeteners for this recipe include honey, maple syrup, agave, etc. Personally, I don’t use any sweeteners, however, I always add either fresh fruit or dried fruit for some natural sweetness. Granola without any sweetener is a bit strange at first, but we’ve learned to love it!
Keywords: healthy, sugar free, prefermented, soaked, snack, vegan, dairy free, egg free, fall, winter
Is this milk or water kefir?
I use milk kefir, but you could probably use kombucha or water kefir too. Might affect the flavour, but would be interesting to try!
What a lovely idea, Emillie! Thanks for supplying a recipe. I’m a diabetic who just discovered I can eat a modest amount of cultured grains. (I’m also an American German whose middle name is “pickled.” 😉
We make ours a bit heavier on the nuts too. And I actually don’t sweeten it… which took some getting used to, but now we all like it just fine. And Pickled is a fabulous middle name!
This stuff rocks! We do a double-batch of this granola every week or two. To make it last (popular with the kids), we like to “dilute” the granola with a bulk bag of flakes of some kind. Works great!
★★★★★
What kind of filtering do you do to get chlorine out of the water? Does our supply in Victoria have high levels of chlorine? I’ve been using regular tap water for all of my fermentation and haven’t had any troubles, so I’m not sure if I really want to invest in a filter…
I use submerged charcoal filters. Pour through filters don’t do much for our water supply as it is treated with chloramine which is very stable. Saying that, I know lots of people that use Victoria tap water and have healthy ferments. I think our water is otherwise quite good, and they don’t use high amount of chloramine, so no need to worry.
Thanks! Good to know.
Love this recipe, I’ve been making this nearly every week for the past couple of months. One batch is enough for my girlfriend and I for an entire week. Super great to add warmed fruit on top of it for extra sweetness and healthiness.
One note, your temperatures are a bit off for the recipe. 150C is actually closer to 300F (not 250F). I find cooking it at 300F for 2hrs to be perfect, but hey, everyone’s different and all points are welcome. Much love, thank you for your wonderful work.
★★★★★
Thanks! We also eat it pretty much every day. I will fix the temperature in the recipe right now. Thanks for pointing that out. Cheers, Emillie
Love this! I’ve been making it for a few months now and love that it makes a big batch and is nice and crunchy and low sugar. Great way to use some discard and make a delicious breakfast for many days. I make it with 2 cups of mixed pumpkin seeds, almonds and walnuts – latter two chopped roughly – plus a cup of large coconut flakes, about 1/4 cup maple syrup, coconut oil, and I’ve upped to 2T cinnamon and 1T salt, no vanilla, and I usually cook at a bit higher temp, like 315-320, for a shorter time, until it’s browned nicely. Thank you!
★★★★★
Yum! Your suggestions are delicious!
I just found your recipe and it looks great! As I’m just venturing into soaking oats and other grains I am curious here….you don’t drain the oats or rinse before mixing with the other ingredients? Also you said “starter” as a possible agent. As in, whole wheat sourdough starter? I would think that would be very thick and affect the look and taste of the granola? I’ll be trying this in the next day or two. Yay!
★★★★
The amount of liquid in the oats is only enough to moisten them. They’re not fully soaked (like you might do for rice or beans). Adding culture helps to break down the oats, allowing them to be clumpy and crunchy without the usual sugar. I usually use whey, yogurt or kefir as my culture. However, sourdough starter works too! I just recommend mixing the sourdough starter with the water in the recipe so it’s easier to stir into the oats. Enjoy!