Almond Vanilla Macaroon Granola (GF, **Raw, Vegan)

I love granola, always have, but it seems like it's something that USED to be good for you, but is no longer. They add all sorts of sugar into them, and there is almost always wheat. One of my favorites is a vanilla almond macaroon granola, so, I thought I would make a healthier version of it.
I'm going to preface this recipe by saying, there are several different kinds of sweeteners in this, just to give it a more authentic taste with some depth. The only sweetener that isn't low glycemic though, is the honey. For those of you who don't know, brown rice syrup is sweet, but isn't much more subtle than agave or honey, it has more of a caramel taste to it. And stevia, that is really sweet, that's why it's only a few drops. If you don't have all of those sweeteners, you can go with just agave or just honey and put in 1/3 cup.

Makes about 5 cups

1 c shredded unsweetened coconut
1 c rolled oats
1 c quinoa flakes (you can use more oats if you would like)
1/4 c ground buckwheat groats or buckwheat flour
1/4 c ground flaxseed
2 TBS flaxseed
2/3 c chopped almonds (I did 1/3 chopped fine, 1/3 rough chopped)
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS agave nectar
2 TBS honey
2 TBS brown rice syrup
8 drops vanilla stevia
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 mashed banana
1/4 c coconut oil
1/4 c coconut butter

Preheat the oven to 325F

Combine ingredients down to (and including) the salt, in a large bowl and mix.

Next in a cereal size bowl, combine the extracts and sweeteners (agave, honey, brown rice syrup and stevia) with the oil and mashed banana. If your banana is somewhat firm still, you may have to break out the beaters and beat until it is smooth. Otherwise, you can do it with a fork. Now pour it into the big bowl of dry ingredients.

Last, mix in the 1/4 cup coconut butter. If you don't have coconut butter, you can use almond butter, although it will give you a different taste. It is ALMOND Vanilla Macaroon Granola though, so it will work just lovely!

Once its mixed line a cookie sheet with foil and pour granola onto it. Make sure to get it evenly spread all over the pan. If your pan is large, you can use one, if it's small you will have to use two (otherwise the bottom and top will get toasty while the middle won't, and it will take longer to cook).

Cook for 20-25 min, or until browned slightly. Stir or flip every 5-7 min to cook evenly.
**If you want to make this raw, you can just dehydrate it instead of cooking it. It should take about 12 hours to dehydrate at 118F.

Buckwheat Graham Crackers (GF, Vegan)

Seriously great graham crackers, if you like graham crackers. When I was little I used to have graham crackers with all sorts of things, like; peanut butter, frosting or apple sauce. I wouldn't eat it with the same kind of frosting on it today, but I still love them with any sort of smooth topping like that. These ones I made though to use for a graham cracker crust for a pie. Figured if I was going to make a pie, may as well make all of it from ingredients I like, right?

I edited this recipe from Nativas buckwheat graham cracker recipe.

36, 4 inch crackers

1/4 c flax seed, ground
1/2 c coconut sugar
3 TBS sucanat or turbinado sugar
*1 TBS maca (Optional, but recommended)
1/4 c coconut oil
*5 drops vanilla stevia, optional
2 cups buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/4 c agave nectar
2 Tbsp vanilla extract

Optional: Sugar mixed with cinnamon for topping

Directions
Mix together all dry ingredients. Then add in the the wet ingredients, and mix together with a mixer until a dough ball is formed. If the dough is too dry you can add a little more almond milk, one tsp at a time. Dough will be kind of sticky.
Heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Put half of the chilled dough on a large piece of parchment paper then put a second piece of parchment paper on top, then use a rolling pin to flatten it out – about 1/8 inch thick. Place on a baking sheet, and carefully remove top layer of parchment. Using a butter knife, cut the dough into rectangles then use a fork to make those necessary graham cracker holes. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, if using. After first batch is done, repeat with second dough half or do at the same time and place on a second baking sheet. Bake crackers for 22-25 minutes or until dried out but not burned.
Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then place crackers on a wire rack to finish cooling and become crisper. They will stay good in an airtight container for about 2 weeks, if they stay around that long.