Buckwheat Granola {with Dried Cherries and Cacao Nibs}

 I recently came across Emmy’s Super Cereal on some recent travels and decided to buy a box as a snack for the road.  The cereal is basically sprouted buckwheat sweetened with coconut sugar and then dehydrated until the buckwheat becomes super crunchy and toasty. So delicious and satisfying!  I immediately began thinking of all of the things I could do with toasted buckwheat.  Despite having the word “wheat” in it, buckwheat is actually a seed and not part of the wheat family.  It is full of nutrients and also gluten-free.

This buckwheat granola comes together quickly and your whole house will smell wonderful as it bakes.  I’ve always liked the idea of sweetening my granolas with coconut sugar, but I’ve always had problems getting the coconut sugar to dissolve and it always ended up very granular.  This time I made a simple syrup from the coconut sugar by dissolving it in some water before mixing it with the coconut oil and that worked beautifully.  The buckwheat ended up being lightly sweetened with just a hint of coconut flavor from the sugar and oil and it remained crunchy for days when stored in an airtight container.  The flavor combinations for this are endless.  Substitute any type of dried fruit for the cherries and add nuts in addition to or instead of the cacao nibs.  I love cacao nibs, but my kids are not big fans so I made them a cherry and sliced almonds version and they loved it!

Dried Cherry and Cacao Nib Buckwheat Granola

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 cups raw buckwheat groats
• 1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped
• 1/4 cup cacao nibs

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. in a small saucepan, combine the coconut sugar and water and whisk together over low heat until coconut sugar is completely dissolved and mixture becomes a simple syrup. Add the coconut oil and whisk together until coconut oil is completely melted. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and salt.
3. Spread the buckwheat groats and dried cherries out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Pour the coconut sugar mixture over the buckwheat and dried cherries and stir with a wooden spoon until buckwheat and cherries are evenly coated.
4. Bake for 35-45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until buckwheat becomes light golden brown.
5. Cool completely on pan, stirring occasionally to avoid clumps. Mix in cacao nibs. Transfer to an airtight container for storage.