Recipe: Chocolatey Granola

I absolutely love granola.

It is without a doubt, one of my most favourite breakfast and snack foods. It’s crunchy and a bit crispy, and sweet with a little bit of salty (sometimes), and the perfect amount of soft with milk or yoghurt added.

I love experimenting with flavours and combinations once I’ve perfected the basic recipe, and this one beat all my expectations considering I just started adding random things until it worked.

Ingredients

• 3 cups of gluten free (or regular) oats

• 3/4 cup of maple syrup (or other syrup that you like. Golden or butterscotch would work nicely)

• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil

• 1/2 cup of mixed chopped nuts

• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

• 1/2 teaspoon salt (you can leave this out if you like)

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder (you can leave this out if you like)

• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

• 100g dairy free chocolate chips (or break a bar of chocolate into smaller pieces; use regular dairy chocolate if you prefer)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, nuts, pumpkin seeds, salt and cinnamon.

2. Add the coconut oil and half of the maple syrup and mix thoroughly.

3. Add the remaining maple syrup and mix thoroughly again.

4. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and spread out the granola, compacting it a little so it forms clumps when baking. Keep the height of the granola no higher than 1cm.

5. Bake for 15 minutes at 150 degrees Celsius until the oats are slightly golden brown. Mix the granola at least once so the oats underneath have a chance to bake too.

6. Remove from the oven and transfer to a large bowl.

7. Add the coca powder whilst the granola is still warm and mix through.

8. Add half the chocolate and mix thoroughly. Then add the other half and mix again.

9. Keep mixing to allow the chocolate to melt and coat the granola with the residual heat of the oats.

10. Let it cool and transfer to an airtight container.