High Raw Beet and Hemp Granola

raw vegan beet hemp granola

It’s an exam night, friends, so this post is going to be short and sweet. But I could not resist sharing my new favorite, high-raw granola recipe, inspired by the beet granola I had at Superfoods Bar in NOLA last week! The beautiful hue says it all: this granola recipe is not only delicious and packed with nutrition, but it also makes use of one of my favorite vegetables, beets, for sweetness and color. Though I’d never have thought to put beets in a granola recipe, I’ve also never shied away from odd and unexpected food combinations (chocolate avocado breakfast salad, anyone?) so I supose it shouldn’t surprise me that I love the way this recipe turned out.

Here’s how to do it:

raw vegan beet hemp granola

High Raw Beet and Hemp Granola (high-raw, vegan, gluten free, soy free)

Makes 2 1/2 cups

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup hemp seeds
1/3 cup goldenberries (substitute raisins or cranberries if they’re easier to find)
1 medium to large beet, roasted, steamed, or raw (if you don’t have a high speed blender, I would use roasted or steamed) and chopped
6 large, pitted medjool dates, soaked for four hours or more and drained
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt

1) Blend the beet, dates, water, oil, cinnamon, and salt in a blender till smooth.

2) Mix the oats, seeds, and goldenberries. Pour beet and date mixture over them.

3) Line a dehydrator sheet with Teflex or a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread with granola.

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You can either:

a. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes, or until browning but not burning.

b. Dehydrate at 115 degrees for about 6-8 hours, or until totally dry and crispy

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Serve over fresh berries with almond milk, or over sliced banana, or over a smoothie, or as a snack, or…however you want!

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Some nice bonuses of this recipe”:

1) Absolutely no refined sugar, and no agave for those of you who avoid it. Nothing but dates and beets (and you can reduce the dates if you want, though this version is fairly moderate on sweetness).

2) Heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids from the hemp seeds, which balance the Omega-6s in the sunflower seeds. Protein and satiation fat from both.

3) Incredible antioxidant power from the goldenberries.

4) Soluble fiber from the rolled oats, which may help to ease digestion.

If you want to make this all raw, you can use dehydrated buckwheat instead of the oats. But they certainly are a great “quick fix” for those who don’t have buckwheat to soak!

raw vegan beet hemp granola

This may be the loveliest looking granola I’ve ever made.

I hope you all find a chance to make this recipe soon. There’s nothing I love so much as when I can sneak a beloved vegetable into an unexpected recipe, and this is the perfect example! I was so inspired, in fact, that I suspect you’ll be seeing more beet sneak attack recipes very soon

xo

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Categories: Breakfast
Ingredients: Beets
Dietary Preferences: Gluten Free, Raw

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    32 Comments
  1. Agree with every single person on here that tried this recipe and could not get the granola to crisp. I baked and baked and baked and baked and finally had to remove from the oven (which was set at 350) because the edges began burning. It’s my first time to try to make granola and now I’m absolutely obsessed with making it crunchy. Bullshit on those folks who say it’s good soggy. Granola is supposed to be crunchy. It’s not good soggy. It’s not even granola if it’s soggy. Please people. Please.

  2. Does soaking and dehydrating the seeds prior to using affect the consistency or taste at all?

    • It definitely makes them softer, but they dry out again during dehydration. I don’t think it changes the taste.

  3. I have to admit that I’m not a fan of beets. I think it’s because the only times I ate them were from the salad bars at school and I bet all of my money that those beets were canned, not fresh. Gena, is there a difference in taste between canned and fresh beets?

  4. I just made this but substituted unsweetened dried coconut and pepitas for the oats since I’m eating Paleo and it’s delicious! I think the oats do a better job of soaking up the liquids so mine isn’t crispy. But I rolled them into balls and put them in the freezer to harden. Thank you for a delicious, quick and healthy snack idea.

  5. i had my doubts when I saw this recipe, but it looked cool so i tried it.. and it is UNBELIEVABLE! I love it! new staple in my house! thank you so much for posting!

  6. Made this a few days ago – delicious! I had the same problem as the other Grace (weird…) Where it turned out almost like a broken up oatmeal cookie! But no complaints hehe… Just expected it to be crispier! It’s probably due to the fact that I only had 3/4 cup oats onhand and no hemp seeds, and I probably didn’t adequately reduce the rest of the mixture.
    Nonetheless, I’ve had it for breakfast two days in a row with my usual smoothie. Today I made a strawberry banana smoothie (fresh and frozen strawberries, fresh and frozen bananas, some homemade vanilla cashew milk, chia seeds, and plant fusion vanilla protein powder) and poured the remaining smoothie that wouldn’t fit in my cup into the cereal. Ah-mazing.
    Thanks for the recipe!

  7. Hi Gena (and/or other folks who may have an answer!):
    I am wondering if I could use unbleached parchment paper instead of a teflex sheet? I was just given a dehydrator (!!!!) as a present, but it only came with the mesh sheets (and I’m not sure when I’ll get around to purchasing any). I want to make graWnola, crackers, pizza crusts, and fruit leathers…. now! 😉

    Thanks!

    • Hi Jess,

      I’ve used a dehydrator to make granola and crackers and have used parchment paper in lieu of teflex sheets. It worked fine! I usually remove the parchment paper when I flip the item over.

  8. Hey Gena!

    It’s Caitlyn again (the one who posted her first ever blog comment on your NEDA week post a while back). I’m back for round two, slow down! 🙂

    Made this recipe this past weekend, and it was delicious!!! I had the same problem as Alejandra though (Too much moisture: I had to cook it for ages in the oven because I don’t have a dehydrator..YET. Do you know if this is a common problem when converting from fully raw to oven baked versions of your recipes?)

    I just wanted to say again what a fantastic discovery your blog has been! I can’t tell you how wonderful it’s been to find stories like yours and the others in the Green Recovery series that are so similar to my own in so many ways. It is common sense, of course, that none of us are alone in this struggle, but this seemingly simple fact is often all too easy to forget…so thanks for the consistent reminder! I’ve been raving about your stuff to my mom, who has also struggled with weight and food issues her whole life, and am hoping to get her hooked soon as well!

    I’m probably a bit late to wish you luck on your exam, but I hope it went well! (I was a Molecular Bio major in undergrad and remember those marathon OChem study sessions all too clearly…but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and it will all pay off in the end, I promise!)

    Peace,
    Caitlyn

    • Caitlyn,

      If you printed the granola when it first went up, you may have used the whole cup water, which I learned through reader feedback is too much! I decreased the quantity to just over half a cup. If that’s still too wet, you should stick it in the fridge after you back it to harden it up 🙂

      G

  9. I made it today! I did have to add oats though because one cup of water made it too wet.
    I didn’t dehydrate it (I don’t have a dehydrator), I could have left it in the oven at low temperature but I couldn’t be bothered and it’s delicious just as it is, a little chewy!

    Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe xx

  10. This recipe looks great! I just made a beet and chocolate cereal recipe super similar. Who knew beets would taste so good in cereal and granola:)

  11. Beautiful! I try to include a rainbow of colors in the dried fruits I use for my granola, but this recipe takes color to a whole new level 🙂

  12. I think I’d use fresh-pressed beet juice for this instead of processing raw or roasted beets in blender, then I’d use the pulp for another recipe. And I’d use ginger instead of cinnamon. In any case, you’ve inspired me to innovate. I tend to find something I love (like ginger-hemp granola) and then eat it over, and over, and over. Maybe I’ll try an orange colored granola with fresh-pressed carrot-ginger juice.

    • Hi Marte – I made this recipe just now, subbing half the hemp seeds for chia seeds. I didn’t think it would affect the recipe but it actually made my granola turn out really soft kind of like a giant oatmeal cookie. I kept it in the oven for ages and it’s still not really crisp! I think it’s something to do with how the chia seeds gel with the liquid and act as a binder for all the ingredients.

      • Oh, okay. Then I’m gonna have to pick up hemp seeds soon, because this recipe looks uh-mazing 🙂 Thanks for your help!

        • Hi Ladies!

          The texture might also have been the fact that I think I listed too much water for this recipe, based upon the fact that I used a pretty large beet and dates. I’ve modified the amount, so it should work better now!

  13. Yum, this looks so great! I bet you could also just grate the beets really finely and stir them in. Looks so pretty!!

  14. Love this, will def try it! I’m new to your blog…It was recommended by my lovely friend Heidi and I love it! Thanks for the great recipes and the inspiration^^

  15. So pretty! Love the idea of beet granola. I bet it turns almond milk a lovely shade of pink. I’ve also found that coconut plays well with beets. You know, for future beet sneak attacks 🙂