Crunchy Chocolate Granola
CRUNCHY CHOCOLATE GRANOLA
The thought of, and the sight of, soggy soaked Bircher muesli makes me sick to the stomach. No offence Bircher muesli, but I don’t want to be your friend. I’ve always been queasy in the mornings, and the idea of a soggy, mushy breakfast is about as bad as it gets for me first thing in the day.
So I’ve decided to take back control. Please enter the breakfast room …. Crunchy Chocolate Granola.
So it might not the most amazingly healthy breakfast alternative … but I’m pretty sure there’s a lot worse (looking at you mass manufactured sugar laden breakfast cereals smiling from your supermarket shelf).
The cacao percentage of the dark chocolate used in this recipe will impact on the sugar content … so if you’re trying to reduce sugar in your diet, choose a higher cacao percentage chocolate, right up to 100%, which contains no sugar. In reality, the amount of chocolate in the recipe per portion is not huge, so as long as it’s still a dark chocolate, which is full of super duper antioxidants, don’t be obsessed with the percentage, just choose a dark chocolate that you enjoy the flavour and texture of.
CRUNCHY CHOCOLATE GRANOLA
For a print friendly recipe, click here!
INGREDIENTS
4 cups rolled oats
½ cup bran flakes (like All Bran)
1 cup shredded or flaked coconut
1 ½ cups hazelnuts (or any nuts you like really)
½ cup cacao nibs
½ cup sunflower seeds
1 tblsp chia seeds (black and white mixed is good)
2 tblsp cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
½ cup maple syrup
2 tblsp (40g) unsalted butter
good pinch sea salt flakes
¾ cup craisins (sweetened dried cranberries – or use unsweetened
cranberries if reducing sugar)
1 cup dark chocolate (little buttons/callets or from a block chopped into small pieces)
DIRECTIONS
Place oats, bran, coconut, hazelnuts, cacao nibs, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, cinnamon and cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl.
Warm butter and with maple syrup til melted and combined. Pour over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Spread mix onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Bake at 170 C, for around 20 minutes, stirring twice during baking.
Remove from oven, and when cool, add craisins and dark chocolate.
Store in airtight container.
Eat as you desire … with any form of fruit, milk or yogurt, or as I do … dry and crunchy!
SWITCH IT UP
Crumble Rumble: Use granola mix as a crumble topping over poached or stewed seasonal fruit, like pears, peaches, apricot, or berries (blackberries are especially good!)
Top it off: Sprinkle granola mix on top of cup cakes and bake.
Raise the Bar: Cook 250g honey, 80g peanut butter and a pinch of sea salt in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring until mixed through and smooth. Remove from heat and add enough granola that the mix is no longer runny, mix together thoroughly. Place in greased baking pan, pressing down, and bake at 170 C for 20mins til crunchy. Cut into desired granola bar size before fully cool. Store in air tight container.