Groats.

Say, what?

You heard right. Groats. It was the base for a delicious cranberry oat groat granola bite made by Leon for our Locally Grown Meal Part 2.

But what in the world are groats?

Groats are the hulled kernels of cereal grains like oats, wheat, rye and barley. In this case, it was oat groats from Doubting Thomas Farm.

We’ll get into the recipe, but first, the story about the local grower…..

Doubting Thomas Farm

Lee and Noreen Thomas operate a 1,200 acre certified organic farm near Moorhead, MN. They raise oats, wheat, blue corn, barley and soybeans - all organically - as well as garden produce and they sell eggs from their chicken raised on organic grains.

Their farm is named Doubting Thomas Farm, but there’s no doubt the couple has found some special ways to market their grains.

Besides grain sales to organic markets, the Thomas’ have a portion of their harvest processed at a local mill. Those items are sold at their farm website online store at doubtingthomasfarm.com. Oat groats, pearled barley thick rolled oats, wheat berries, Creamy White Flour made with organic wheat, malted ages and a pancake and waffle mix - all made with organic grains - are sold through the online store.

Many of their products are either sold or used by area businesses, bakeries and restaurants.

But they weren’t always organic.

The farm was started by Lee’s great-great grandfather in 1878. It was, what is commonly referred to as, a conventional farm, but Noreen, with her background in pesticide residue, encouraged Lee to consider organic crop production.

At the time, the word in farming circles was “get big or get out.” Another thought was making headway, as well. There were those talking about finding a niche.

Noreen saw organics as that niche.

“I drug him to a couple of meetings and he wasn’t all that interested,” she said. “I said, ‘Let’s go to one more meeting.’ We bumped into an organic farmer and it started to all make sense.”

The farm became certified organic in 1997.

She admits there have been adjustments and that they’ve had times of “riding the waves,” but it’s been a pretty good move.

Noreen is skilled at marketing and making connections. She’s found value added niches for the grains.

Besides connections with local restaurants, she also works with area artisans who use the certified organic grains in soaps and facial masks, to name a few. And they’ve developed products, made from their certified organic grains, for their online store.

The couple has built a community of farm entrepreneurs. Besides looking at products, they also work with education, hosting sustainable farming events as producers gather to learn from one another.

Noreen, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree from North Dakota State University in food and nutrition, has spent time working with children and youth on precuts throughout Missouri, Minnesota and Montana. She has taught children the Junior Master Gardener program and has worked with youth and adults on planning, planting, tending and harvesting organic vegetables for local buyers. And she’s written agriculture curriculum.

Recently she joined forces with her daughter-in-law, Melany, in raising and malting oat and barley. These grains are highly sought after for local craft brewers.

That “out of the box” thinking is something their children possess as well. Each of their three kids took off with their own ideas in their youth. One child, at 14, made his own soda pop, she said. Another saw bales in the farmyard and wanted to grow mushrooms. The bales were moved and, with the materials needed to grow it, mushrooms were soon growing and sold to customers.

The couple’s enthusiasm for the farm and farm products is infectious. And it was with that same sense of adventure that Leon took on the Thomas farm’s oat groats.

Oat Groats - Recipe and thoughts

“Groats, you say? what is a groat? Well I had never heard of this grain before,” Leon said in a note as he sent me the recipe.

Groats don’t have a hull, but its not chopped, cut or rolled, either. He opted to chop them in his food processor for a bit to make smaller pieces of the groats.

Here is his recipe for….

Cranberry Oat Groat Granola Bites

1 c. groats, chopped (Doubting Thomas Farm Oat Groats, Moorhead, MN)

1 c. Swany White mix (Coconut protein ball, rolled oats, mini chocolate chips, Freeport MN

1/3 c honey (Hofmann Apiaries, Richville MN

1/3 c dark brown sugar

1/2 c pitted and dried tart cherries (sourced from Brian and Vici Severson, Underwood, MN)

1/2 c Millerville Co-Op Creamery Butter (Millerville, MN)

1/2 c. chopped dates (optional)

The process:

In a 350 deg. oven, roast the chopped groats for 5 minutes, still and roast another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

In a large bowl, mix together the butter (melted), the honey and brown sugar until well blended. Stir in the groats, the fruit and Swany mix.

Pack the mixture into a low-rimmed cookie sheet lined with parchment. Press or roll tightly then pack it tight once again. Refrigerate overnight, cut into desired size pieces. I think bit size squares are the best

This recipe keeps well in the fridge, but take out for an ohour or so before serving.

Note: a small amount of cinnamon may be nice addition to these groat bites.

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Another note: When talking to Noreen about oat groats, she said to prepare it like rice. Same amount of oat groats that you would use making rice. It’s good and another healthy grain. Instead of water, I use chicken or beef broth and add a few herbs.