juliebove
07-19-2007, 09:57 PM
I've been buying these at my health food store and they're very expensive! I do not know if they are technically raw since they contain mesquite flour and maple syrup, but they are touted as a living food. The ingredients are soaked walnuts, maple syrup, mesquite flour, Himalayan crystal salt and spices.
I wanted to try to make these at home because I thought I could do it for less money. Turns out the mesquite flour is likely why they are so danged expensive. It's not cheap! But I finally got some at my health food store and just finished making them. Mine do not have a coating that is as thick as the ones I've bought, but I actually prefer mine as I like things that are less sweet.
I didn't measure my ingredients. I mainly did it by feel and taste.
I started with two bags of walnuts. I'd say there was about 6 cups total. I soaked them for about two hours, changing the soak water a couple of times then rinsing well.
After draining the walnuts, I added a couple of glugs of maple syrup and mixed them up with a big spoon to coat. I then added several sprinkles of cinnamon, a small amount of powdered vanilla, a large pinch of ginger, a few sprinkles of Real Salt and a few spoonfuls of mesquite flour. Just enough to coat.
Then on to the dehydrator. There was enough to fill 4 trays in my Nesco. I used the fruit leather sheets topped with the mesh. The reason I did it this way was because they were a bit drippy. I am thinking perhaps the store bought ones were made instead with a batter made from the mesquite flour and maple syrup rather than the way I did it, but... They taste good to me, so it's all good! :D
I left them to dehydrate overnight at 115 for several hours, then flipped them off onto just the mesh sheets after they seemed fairly dried off. This still resulted in some sticky goo going down onto my mesh sheets. Bottom line, you'll be using a lot of hot water to melt off the goo, but it's worth it!
I left them in the dehydrator overnight, then let them sit for several hours to cool and thorougly dry out. Now they're in a bag in the fridge.
I suppose you could sub agave nectar for the maple syrup but it wouldn't give you that maple flavor. And you could leave out the mequite flour but I think it's what helps to give it the candy coating and it also has its own almost bitter flavor to it. It's also purported to lower blood sugar and I'm diabetic. I can eat the store bought ones with no problems.
I wanted to try to make these at home because I thought I could do it for less money. Turns out the mesquite flour is likely why they are so danged expensive. It's not cheap! But I finally got some at my health food store and just finished making them. Mine do not have a coating that is as thick as the ones I've bought, but I actually prefer mine as I like things that are less sweet.
I didn't measure my ingredients. I mainly did it by feel and taste.
I started with two bags of walnuts. I'd say there was about 6 cups total. I soaked them for about two hours, changing the soak water a couple of times then rinsing well.
After draining the walnuts, I added a couple of glugs of maple syrup and mixed them up with a big spoon to coat. I then added several sprinkles of cinnamon, a small amount of powdered vanilla, a large pinch of ginger, a few sprinkles of Real Salt and a few spoonfuls of mesquite flour. Just enough to coat.
Then on to the dehydrator. There was enough to fill 4 trays in my Nesco. I used the fruit leather sheets topped with the mesh. The reason I did it this way was because they were a bit drippy. I am thinking perhaps the store bought ones were made instead with a batter made from the mesquite flour and maple syrup rather than the way I did it, but... They taste good to me, so it's all good! :D
I left them to dehydrate overnight at 115 for several hours, then flipped them off onto just the mesh sheets after they seemed fairly dried off. This still resulted in some sticky goo going down onto my mesh sheets. Bottom line, you'll be using a lot of hot water to melt off the goo, but it's worth it!
I left them in the dehydrator overnight, then let them sit for several hours to cool and thorougly dry out. Now they're in a bag in the fridge.
I suppose you could sub agave nectar for the maple syrup but it wouldn't give you that maple flavor. And you could leave out the mequite flour but I think it's what helps to give it the candy coating and it also has its own almost bitter flavor to it. It's also purported to lower blood sugar and I'm diabetic. I can eat the store bought ones with no problems.