It’s too obvious, but we’ll say it anyway: this deep chocolate granola with crunchy nuts and sweet-tart cherries is so crave-worthy, portion control will take strong willpower. If ever granola could be considered romantic, this would be it. And rumour has it that it’s also kid approved. Serve drowned in your preferred milk or build a breakfast power bowl by topping yogurt with spoonfuls of this granola and fresh fruit. If richly flavoured date syrup is unavailable, it can be replaced with honey, maple syrup, or brown rice syrup.
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups (560 mL) rolled oats
3/4 cup (180 mL) pecan halves
1/4 cup (60 mL) hempseeds (hemp hearts)
1/2 cup (125 mL) unsweetened coconut flakes
1/3 cup (80 mL) cacao powder
1/4 cup (60 mL) turbinado sugar or coconut sugar
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/3 cup (80 mL) melted coconut oil
1/4 cup (60 mL) date syrup
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
1 cup (250 mL) dried cherries
2 oz (57 g) chopped dark chocolate
Directions
Preheat oven to 250 F (120 C). In large bowl, toss together oats, pecans, hempseeds, coconut flakes, cacao powder, sugar, and salt.
In small bowl, whisk together coconut oil, date syrup, and vanilla. Pour over oat mixture and mix well until everything is moist. On rimmed baking tray, spread granola in even layer.
Bake for 40 minutes, stirring granola every 10 minutes. Stir in dried cherries.
In small microwave-safe bowl, place chocolate and heat on high power in 15-second intervals, stirring between each interval, until smooth. Or place chocolate in heatproof bowl set over a medium saucepan of barely simmering water (don’t let the bottom of bowl touch water) and stir constantly until melted.
Drizzle chocolate over granola and then slide tray into refrigerator to solidify chocolate. Once set, gently scoop granola into airtight container for storage.
Easy does it
When baking granola, it’s best to use a low oven temperature and longer cooking time with frequent stirring. This helps prevent the contents from burning and taking on bitter flavours.
Each serving contains: 445 calories; 7 g protein; 26 g total fat (14 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 50 g total carbohydrates (25 g sugars, 7 g fibre); 81 mg
