Nut-free, Grain-free Dehydrated Coconut Granola Recipe

I think I discovered a backpacking food heaven.

I’ve been playing around with different dehydrated food recipes for my upcoming Appalachian Trail thru-hike and yesterday, when I took a bite of this crispy, buttery, naturally sweet and caramelized piece of heaven, I knew I finally found my place in the world.

This is nut-free (too many nuts through off your omega 3 to omega 6 ratio, so I try to eat them moderately), grain-free (because they hurt my stomach and brain) and doesn’t include added sugar. It is VERY calorie dense and extremely filling. I hiked for 13 miles yesterday on nothing but a solid handful of this and felt like the queen on the world. Let’s be clear, I’ve pretty much only been eating this for the past 48 hours. I had to vacuum seal it up this morning before I ate it all.

 

Ingredients:

-1 lb of fine or medium shredded coconut

-2-3 lbs of raw carrot

-As many dates (with pits removed) as you want… for me, about 5-10 depending on the size

-2 plantains (I use one yellow and one green)

-2-3 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spices (Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, Nutmeg, Allspice)

-1 tablespoon of vanilla

-1 tablespoon salt (use Celtic Salt, Redmond’s Real Salt or Himalayan Pink Salt)

-Honey (I don’t always use it and think the recipe is sweet enough without it, but adding honey is like adding Shirley Temple to your heaven- it’s undeniably sweet)

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients in a blender (mine’s not big enough, so I just add about half at a time) and blend until all ingredients are shredded and thoroughly mixed. It doesn’t need to be pureed. You may need to put it in a bowl and mix it up by hand after shredding the ingredients.

2. This step isn’t necessarily, but if you have an immersion blender, go through your bowl with it a few times to grind up any remaining large date or plantain pieces.

3. Spread on top of a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet so it’s less than a half inch thick. The thinner it is, the faster it will bake and dehydrate.

4. Bake in the oven at 375 for 30 minutes, or until edges are beginning to brown.

5. Either eat like this and store in the refrigerator for the next week, or… transfer parchment paper with the mixture onto dehydrator sheets and put into the dehydrator. I dehydrated mine at 145 degrees for 12 hours. You want to dehydrate it until it is completely dry and crispy (like the texture of a Nature’s Valley bar).

6. If taking it backpacking with you on the trail (good luck not eating it all before hand), either vacuum seal it into smaller portions to last you a few days, or put it into ziplock baggies and freeze until it is time to take it with you. I don’t know if it is necessary to freeze it, but better be safe than sorry!

 

For a chocolate peppermint version- omit pumpkin pie spices and add cocoa powder (the more you add, the darker it will be… I like 3 or 4 tablespoons), and 1 tablespoon of peppermint extract

For a chocolate cherry version- omit pumpkin pie spices and add cocoa powder (a few tablespoons) and dried cherries or tart cherry juice concentrate

For a lemon ginger version- omit pumpkin pie spices and add as much ginger as you like (a few tablespoons for me) and a tablespoon of lemon extract

Get creative!!!!! Just add whatever the heck you like and see what happens.

 

-Julieann Hartley