I still remember the first time I tried a Chai tea. I was immediately hooked! I’ve always been a fan of the warm spices that make this tea so special. Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, and cardamom are a heavenly blend! I’ve been enjoying Chai tea a lot lately and started thinking about other uses for this lovely spice blend. I decided try them in a grain-free granola recipe and it was a winner! Today’s recipe is Chai Spice Granola and my version is grain and gluten-free, vegan, Paleo, and has an option for making it SCD-legal.
Besides the spices in this Chai Spice Granola, I love that the nuts and seeds are soaked as part of making the recipe. Soaking your nuts and seeds before consuming them makes for easier digestion and in my opinion, better flavor. See this post for more details.
This recipe will make quite a bit of granola, but it stores well in Mason jars. We go through it pretty quickly, but it will last at least a month in your pantry, probably longer.
I love granolas for breakfast with some homemade almond milk or as an afternoon snack straight from the jar. This Chai Spice Granola packs up well for picnics, school or work lunches, or road trips!
If you are a fan of grain-free granolas, make sure to check out some of my other favorite flavors: Banana Granola, Apple Pie Granola, Pumpkin and Spice Granola, and Strawberry Granola.
My favorite place to purchase organic herbs and spices like the ones used in this recipe is through Mountain Rose Herbs.
I love my dehydrator, it’s easy to use and cleans up well. Find out more about it here!
- 2 cups raw slivered almonds
- 2 cups raw pecan pieces
- 2 cups raw walnuts pieces
- 1 cup raw pepitas
- 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1 Tablespoon sea salt
- 2 cups unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup blanched almond flour
- ¼ cup chia seeds ground in a spice grinder or ½ cup chia meal (You can substitute flax seed if you prefer.)
- 1 cup finely shredded coconut
- 1 cup coconut flakes
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (For SCD-legal, either leave out the vanilla extract or use the seeds of one vanilla bean.)
- 3 1/2 teaspoons Homemade Chai Spice Blend or 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger,
- ½ teaspoon allspice, ½ teaspoon cardamom, ½ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Place the almonds, pecans, walnuts, pepitas, and sunflower seeds in a large bowl with the 1 Tablespoon of sea salt. Add enough filtered water to cover the nuts by at least an inch. Let the nuts soak for about 12 hours.
- Drain the nuts and rinse with cold water.
- Add the nuts along with the rest of the ingredients to a large bowl and mix until well combined and clumpy.
- Place the granola on your dehydrator trays lined with screens.
- Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 12-16 hours or until crisp.
- Store in air tight glass containers.
- Enjoy!!
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Awesome idea! I need to try this…chai and granola are two of my favorites things!