"Heavenly" Soaked Granola

"Mom! Did you make this yourself?! This is HEAVENLY!" - Bobby, age 8

First, the recipe.

In a large-ish bowl, put:
6 c. rolled oats
2 c. rolled barley

In a smaller bowl, put:
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. coconut oil (or weigh out 1/4 lb each)
and then pour over that:
3 1/2 c. boiling water
Stir until the fats are completely melted, then pour over the rolled grains.

Stir and stir until all of the grains are nice and wet. (I use a sort of folding motion, turning the bowl as I slide my rubber scraper down the side of the bowl to the bottom and fold a scoop to the center.)
Tamp down in the bowl so that all if the grains are touching one another. Cover the bowl with a plate.

Let sit in a warm-ish place for 24 hours. This is the soaking period that allows the phytase enzyme in the barley to activate and break down all the phytic acid in the grains.

In a small pan, melt and stir together:
1/2 c. honey or maple syrup
1 T. cinnamon
1/8 t. cardamom (ground, optional)
1 t. sea salt
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. almond extract
Pour the mixture over the soaked grains and stir and stir 'till the grains are coated.

Now dump in whatever else you want in your granola. I put in two handfuls each of raisins, shredded coconut, sliced almonds, and pecan pieces. (Ideally, your nuts would have been soaked overnight in salted water to neutralize the phytic acid in those, as well.)
Stir and stir until everything is evenly incorporated.

Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Dump half of the mixture onto each tray, and spread out into an even, though very clumpy layer.

Put in the oven set at about 170°-180° F. Every few hours, pull the trays out and stir the granola around with your hands.
I like to alternate a few hours in the over with a few hours drying out at room temp, then more time in the oven. The cooling periods seem to help with more thorough evaporation. Keep it up until the granola is all dry. Store in an airtight container.

Now the background:
After getting in the habit of cooking porridge most mornings, I was able to phase out the boxed breakfast cereal without too much fuss from my kids. They all enjoy hot cereal more than cold - I suspect more because it's something I make for them, but I won't complain! On the off days that I didn't have time, I'd offer them toast and milk, or yogurt if we had any to spare.
But, I did sometimes miss being able to fall back on cereal in the cupboard. I wasn't going to go back to flakes, puffs, or extrusions, as I had found out that the high pressure and heat they are exposed to in manufacturing renders them harmful, and less nutritious than the box they're packaged in!! ( http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-foods/dirty-secrets-of-the-food-processing-industry )
My kids sort of liked granola when I used to get it, so I figured I could maybe try that.
So, I set about putting together a granola I could feel ok about shoving off on my kids when I'm feeling too lazy to cook.
I made this granola, altering a recipe I found that soaked oats in a water/yogurt mixture. I offered it to my children. It was gone in one day. Bobby declared it "heavenly." They all clamored for quarts of vanilla yogurt to accompany it. It is now a staple in our home.

Why soaked grains?
Soaking grains (and nuts) helps to break down a compound called phytic acid, a substance that binds with the available minerals in the grain and makes them largely unavailable for assimilation into your system. Apparently some people's digestive systems are sensitive to the acid and they experience stomach/intestinal upset, as well.
Most granola recipes use un-soaked grains. I didn't want to do that, because *not* taking the time to neutralize the phytic acid in the grain would kind of defeat the purpose of making cereal in the first place. I had seen recipes for soaked granola, but they all used yogurt, and I'm still not comfortable with leaving yogurt out that long AND storing it dried in my granola. Not to mention that my family does not enjoy the sour flavors of acid-soaked grains.
Fortunately, I had happened across an article that talked about SYNERGISTIC SOAKING, and avoiding calcium-rich soaking media (like yogurt, buttermilk, or whey.) All the specifics are here http://www.rebuild-from-depression.com/blog/2010/02/oatmeal_phytic_acid.html , but basically it says that you can remove most of the phytic acid from your oats by soaking them in WATER with a different grain that contains a high quantity of the enzyme phytase. Barley is one of those grains. Rye is another, so if you like the flavor of rye you can use rolled rye instead.

Why only 180°?
The granola recipes I grew up with had you "roast" the granola in the oven at 350° for just a couple of hours. The problem with the higher temperature is twofold:
First, you risk burning your delicate ingredients. Coconut and raisins, especially, really don't do well with high heat. One batch of over-browned granola, and you'll see what I mean - your children will NOT call it heavenly!
And second, the high heat can damage the enzymes, proteins, and oils present in your granola mixture. Part of the point of making your own breakfast cereal is to *avoid* heat damage, so keep the temp low.

Do I have to use my oven?
Nope. If you have a food dehydrator, or an air-drying setup for food, by all means save the energy and use that. You'll have to be a little more careful with your periodic stirring, though.

Can I use other oils to avoid saturated fat?
HECKNO. First of all, stop avoiding saturated fat. Your tissues, especially your blood vessels, need saturated fat to stay in good repair. Substituting other oils will only set you up for free-radical damage (because your body will be forced to use the rancid unsaturated oils you've been eating to try to rebuild tissue) and your vessels will have to request cholesterol plaque repair patches to cover the damage. You don't want that.
You *can* substitute more butter for the coconut oil, or more coconut oil for the butter if you like, though. But stick with those two stable, sweet, healthy fats.

What about agave nectar or rice syrup in place of honey or maple?
Meh. I wouldn't. Agave and rice syrups are made with essentially the same process that is used to make high-fructose corn syrup. They aren't just taking naturally sweet sap and boiling it down - it's a chemical process that breaks apart starch molecules to make simple sugar molecules. No real point, when you can get raw honey or mineral-rich natural maple syrup!
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