When I was in New York a couple of weeks ago, I found a raw, vegan, gluten free granola made of mulberries and walnuts.  It was absolutely delicious, though just a bit sweet for my palate.

I saved the package (it was made by International Harvest and they have other flavors as well), and this weekend found a dash of spare time to recreate their product without using the agave they add to sweeten it.  I think it’s quite sweet enough with dried fruit in it.  The trick to making this granola is adding a ton of cinnamon (even more than the 1 teaspoon I have in the recipe below), which accentuates the sweetness of the dried fruits.

Mulberry Granola
4 cups walnuts
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ cup water
4 Medjool dates, pitted
5 dried apricots, chopped
½ cup dried mulberries
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Soak walnuts and salt overnight in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish
2. Rinse the walnuts, rinse the baking dish, then place the nuts back in the baking dish
3. Place nuts in oven on lowest setting (our oven is 135°) and dehydrate for 24 hours or until crispy
4. Once nuts are dehydrated, remove from oven and set aside
5. Place dates and water in food processor and pulse until a smooth paste forms
6. Add walnuts, apricots, mulberries and cinnamon and pulse until coarse, like granola
7. Place in oven in 9 x 13 inch baking dish and dehydrate again for 24 hours or until crispy
8. Serve as a snack or as cereal with almond milk

In addition to this mulberry walnut granola, you might also want to try my recipe for Gluten Free and Grain Free “Raw” Granola using almonds, macadamia nuts, raisins and pumpkin seeds.

I just spend the past 3 days at wonderful local conferences –Boco in Boulder and the Gluten Free Culinary Summit in Denver and had a blast.

Next up on my calendar are a couple of local cooking classes her in Boulder.  The first is at the Culinary School of the Rockies on October 15th and the second is at Bauman College on October 28th.

Finally, if you are a Facebook user and want to get regular updates on Elana’s Pantry happenings, check out my new page.