Buckwheat Granola (Oven or Dehydrator)
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Looking for a healthy breakfast option? This Healthy Buckwheat Granola is just what you need. Made with sprouted buckwheat instead of the traditional granola that's made with rolled oats, it's richly flavored with cranberries, coconut, pistachios, cacao, and cinnamon.
It's so simple to make but has a flavor combination that makes for a truly special and nutritious breakfast or snack.
Breakfast is known to be the most important meal of the day, but getting a healthy morning meal together for the whole family can be daunting.
And truly, reaching for a box of breakfast cereal just isn’t the best option. When you analyze the nutritional content of boxed cereals, most end up looking more like a dessert than a wholesome start to the day. In fact, puffed rice (though it doesn't have artificial colors) is the GI equivalent of eating jelly beans for breakfast (source)!
Enter this buckwheat granola recipe, which is simple to make and can be made in bulk. The coconut oil and flakes help make it a filling start to the day. Cranberry, pistachio, and orange make a delicious flavor combo that would make a lovely homemade Christmas gift idea, but feel free to mix it up with other flavors according to your preferences.
Once you try this recipe, you just might
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About Buckwheat
Contrary to its name, buckwheat isn't wheat or a type of wheat, and it has no gluten.
Buckwheat is a wonderful gluten-free grain-like seed (a pseudo-grain) with a lovely crunchy texture that's even crispier when soaked and dried. It's full of important nutrients like B vitamins, iron, magnesium, boron, and calcium and is thought to be alkalizing (source, source).
Using buckwheat in granola is a great option for people who are avoiding oats but aren't on a super low-carb/keto diet.
Soaking and Sprouting
While you can use either raw, soaked, or sprouted buckwheat for this recipe, I like to soak or sprout mine. Doing so increases the bioavailability of nutrients while reducing buckwheat’s starch content, and also increases the bioavailability of its protein content (source). If you're new to soaking and sprouting grains, buckwheat is an excellent place to start.
Soaking buckwheat and then drying it in a dehydrator or oven results in a fantastic light and crispy cereal. When I first had it years ago, I couldn't believe how lovely it tastes. It's even possible to make healthy “rice krispie” treats using sugar-free marshmallows and soaked and dried buckwheat in place of the crisp rice cereal.
Ingredients
- buckwheat groats (Use soaked or sprouted buckwheat. Make sure to buy hulled raw buckwheat and not buckwheat kasha, which is toasted buckwheat. I recommend organic buckwheat, if possible.)
- dried cranberries
- pistachios
- coconut flakes
- cacao nibs (Chocolate chips or dark chocolate chunks could also be used.)
- cinnamon
- salt
- coconut oil
- honey (Maple syrup or a low-carb sweetener can be used as well)
- orange juice (Use lemon juice or plain water to reduce carbohydrates)
- orange zest
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and spread on baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and crispy.
Alternatively, place on dehydrator trays and dry until completely dry and crunchy.
Recipe Notes
- Use soaked or sprouted buckwheat for optimal nutrition, but you can use plain buckwheat groats as well.
- You can use 1/8 teaspoon stevia extract or low-carb sweeteners instead of the honey to reduce the glycemic load.
- Using a dehydrator to gently dry the granola gives the nicest result, but toasting it in the oven works fine too.
- Make sure to either dehydrate this granola or bake in the oven at a very low temperature. If you roast it at a higher temperature, the granola will have a much deeper taste that you might not like.
Variations
While this specific combination is great and very festive for Christmas gifting, there are so many other options for making a world of variations on this granola. How about:
- chocolate chips or cacao nibs and almonds (chopped, sliced, or whole)
- coconut and pecans
- walnuts, dried apples, and cinnamon
- maple extract with walnuts
- almonds with cinnamon and vanilla
How to Serve
Enjoy this delicious homemade buckwheat granola served with oat milk, Easiest Homemade Coconut Milk, or Easiest Almond Milk. Of course you can use regular milk as well.
You can also use it as a topping for ice cream, pudding, yogurt, smoothies, a smoothie bowl, or a parfait.
Other Gluten-Free Breakfast Ideas
Here are some more gluten-free breakfast options to help start your day on the right foot.
- 3-Ingredient Buckwheat Crepes: great with savory or sweet toppings. They're thinner than buckwheat pancakes, but you can definitely use them as such!
- Chocolate Chia Pudding: rich and decadent with blended and non-blended options.
- Mixed Berry Chia Pudding: refreshing and filling.
- Homemade Protein Bars: taste like candy, but they're good for you.
- Teff Waffles: these have an interestingly chocolatey taste and can be easily made into pancakes as well.
- Blender Waffles: fun to make and eat.
Gourmet Cranberry Buckwheat Granola Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 cups buckwheat
- 1 cup dried cranberries (unsweetened)
- 1/2 cup pistachios (preferably soaked and dried–substitute other nut or seed, if needed)
- 1 cup coconut (flaked, unsweetened)
- 1/4 cup cacao nibs (optional)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup orange juice (or use the juice of 1 orange)
- 2-3 tablespoons orange zest (about the zest of 1 orange)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a baking pan and place it in an oven on low heat (approximately 200°F). After 45 minutes give it a good stir and check to see how crunchy the buckwheat is. If you are using sprouted buckwheat it may take up to four to six hours before it has fully dried out, but do check it frequently towards the end and stir the granola every so often to avoid burning.
- Alternatively, spread the granola mix out on dehydrator sheets and dry at 125°F for approximately 10-12 hours until crisp.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
I'd love to hear what you think about this granola.
Let me know in the comments!
This recipe was developed by Sarah Teng, the author of Little Fig, a blog that sadly isn't around any longer.
I’m really excited to try this. Would agave syrup or maple syrup make ok vegan alternatives for the honey?
🙂
Yes, that would be fine! Hope you enjoy it!
Hi there! I love buckwheat and your recipe looks fantastic! I used raw buckwheat twice but it turned out to be a disaster. After soaking the buckwheat overnight, when I rinsed it the next morning it was super slimy. I want to sprout it but everytime it’s really slimy. Any idea what I did wrong?! I also have a tasty quinoa-buckwheat flakes recipe on my YouTube channel (channel link removed by blog owner)
Hi there. I’m not sure –you mean you did it in this recipe or some other recipe? Sorry but I don’t allow self promotion on my site. Thanks for understanding.
When you use sprouted buckwheat, do you use it wet or dehydrate it? Would it be 5 cups of wet or dehydrated buckwheat? Thanks. I can’t wait to try this recipe.
I dehydrate it. I would just assume you measure it dehydrated.
This looks like an awesome recipe. I just pinned it and printed it out so I can try it later this week. I have buckwheat groats and it would be a nice change from oats.
How long do you soak your buckwheat before you use it?
Hi Jennifer – buckwheat only needs a brief soaking of less than an hour. If you click on the ‘freshly sprouted buckwheat’ link in the recipe box above you will be directed to further instructions on my blog.
LOVE This recipe! Sharing today on my FB page!!
Isn’t it great?
This sounds absolutely DANGEROUS! Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks!
Definitely going to make this. I’ve used buckwheat in pancakes, as kasha in Eastern European cooking, but this is a way we could eat buckwheat more often and enjoy. Now my brain is whirling with other grains that I could use as a granola: millet and quinoa.
Thank you!
Neato, huh:)?
Hi Joanne. Millet and quinoa are great as a base for granola too, and can be sprouted in the same way (though millet does need a longer soak time of between 6-12 hours).
This looks fabulous! I buy buckwheat in bulk but have never thought of using it this way.
My daughter can’t have coconut. Could I use butter in place of the coconut oil? What about replacing the coconut flakes with a different nut?
Thanks for the great recipe!
Yes, you can for sure sub in butter. I think you could do another nut or another dried fruit for the coconut flakes. I am sure Sarah will chime in later. She’s in New Zealand :).
Hi Shelley, yes melted butter is lovely too. Maybe you add some pumpkin or sunflower seeds instead of coconut flakes if that appeals.
We have made this twice now! It’s wonderful. As it turns out, new tests on the kids have us eliminating dairy for now. I made ghee for the first batch but ended up with olive oil on the second. They both worked great!
I used dried cherries, flax seeds, and pomegranate juice in the second batch. I’ve been going over in my mind all the different flavor combinations we could use.
Thank you for such a great recipe!
Yum! Great flavor combo ideas!
Adrienne,
Would you consider putting nutrition info on your recipes? I see so many that look wonderful, but I am on a super low carb diet for both candida and glucose issues. It would help many of us to know whether your delightful recipes would work for us if you could include that.
I’ve thought about that. Not sure how or what program to use (and I don’t think any program can take sprouted foods into account) but I will consider it. Thank you!
Okay, so I’ve never used buckwheat before, except for flour which I just used the first time over the weekend. I have a bag of “hulled buckwheat.” Will that work for this??
Yes! That’s exactly what you need! You’ll love how crunchy this is. Kinda like processed cereal without the “processed”. 🙂
Well then I’m totally pinning this bad boy – because I had NO IDEA what to do with that stuff.
Cool! Maybe start a board called “So THAT’s how to use that whatchamacallit in your pantry :)!”
Haha sounds like a great idea 🙂