So, usually my rule is that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

(Wahh. Wahhh.)

I’m not a pessimist in life. Promise.

Just when it comes to magical food claims.

It’s just that I know they don’t work.

Let’s take these common phrases and buzz words: calorie-free, sugar-free, fat-free, gluten-free, and agave is healthier than sugar, for example.

People get so excited (because “fill-in-the-blank“-free foods means guilt free foods, don’t you know), overconsume these processed food products, and still don’t lose the weight they want, still feel crappy when they wake up in the morning, and then get some bad side effects to round it all out, like more intense sugar cravings, or a body full of chemicals that fog your brain like no other.

Hello, not worth it.

If you want my real opinion (and even if you don’t), here it is. It’s no shocker: There are no shortcuts. No miracles that help you lose weight and get healthy. There are no solve-all problems food, or drinks, for that matter. And following those claims will often leave you in a worse place than where you started. And even more frustrated. It’s about being consistent with the good stuff, day in and day out. Over time.

That’s normally how I try to roll at least.

But, I’m human.

I can still be enticed easily by something that sounds like a healthy version of a not healthy food.

So when I saw a little something called “Vanilla Bean Raw Granola” on one of my other favorite blogs {The Roost Blog—  amazing photography + a great explanation of WHY you should sprout your nuts, seeds, beans, legumes  and grains to get the most health benefits from those foods}, I impulsively clicked and was halfway down the page before I realized what I was doing. I assumed it would be a fake-out, a classic case of too-good-to-be-true.

Meaning that the recipe would be made with agave, soy rice crisps, full of other obscure ingredients, complicated to make, or something else not up to my snooty little nutrition standards.

Sometimes though, there are some good ones out there.

Amazingly so.

Did anyone know that you don’t need grains at all to make granola? It was news to me, let me tell you. GREAT news.

This recipe is perfect for so many things– transitioning off of cereal (y’all know by now most cereal is not healthy for you, right?), a topping for  whole milk yogurt or ice cream, as a sweet  {kid or adult}  snack, or healthier dessert component.

It’s a bit longer on the time-intensive side when you factor in sprouting your own nuts (meaning you just have to fill a pot of water and walk away for 6 hours. So hard, I know), but you’ll feel much better about eating it by the handful after.

Which happens.

So plan accordingly.

Below is my own twist on the recipe,  and it came out amazing. Feel free to add other items (dried apples, cranberries, dates,  or other kinds of nuts or seeds, etc) as you see fit!

Homemade Sprouted {Gluten-Free} Granola:

Ingredients:

For the granola:

6 cups assorted raw nuts & seeds of your choice (I used walnuts, almonds, pecans and pumpkin seeds in mine): Soaked in a large pot of water for 6 hours

1-2 handfuls of unsweetened coconut (optional)

1-2 handful raisins (optional)

For the paste that holds it together:

7  medjool dates or 10 deglect dates, pits removed

1/4 cup hot water

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 TB raw honey

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

Directions:

1. AHEAD OF TIME: Soak nuts in a large pot of water for 6 hours. When you’re ready to make your granola, rinse and drain the nuts and set aside:

2. Preheat oven to 250. Then, get ready to make your paste. In a small bowl, add all the paste ingredients together (hot water, dates, vanilla, cinnamon, honey and sea salt). Let sit on the counter so the hot water can melt the honey and soften the dates.

3. In batches, add sprouted nuts to a blender or food processor and use the “pulse” feature to coursely chop. Don’t over blend them, you’ll end up with powder. It’s ok if there are a few bigger nut pieces left. Everyone like the chunks.

4. Spread nuts crumbles on a baking sheet. I needed 2 sheets to hold it all: This is what is looks like straight from the blender:

5. Add your paste mixture to the blender and blend away. Drizzle over the nuts and toss with your hands. Spread the mixture evenly throughout the pan. Yes, this is a little messy. Just love it:

6. Place baking sheets in the oven and set a timer for 40 mins. When the timer goes off, pull the baking sheets out and add your raisins (or other dried fruit) and the coconut shreds. Move the granola around on the pan so it doesn’t burn in one place. Place back in the oven and bake for another 10 mins, or until everything looks slightly toasted.

To store, keep in glass mason jars (or other airtight containers) in the fridge. These will keep for at least a week. Placing bets that there is no way it will last that long.