Chocolate Coconut Granola

Hi Sweet Tarts! How you doin'??

I don't know what's come over me, but magically I've moved from my funk to this amazing, upbeat mood.  I think it might have something to do with the fact that we just found out that we are expecting a new little nephew in October or maybe it's the tulips along the side of my house that are so super close to opening.

Because I'm feeling so much better, I thought I'd treat myself to a bar of dark chocolate. Instead of demolishing the entire bar in one sitting, I decided to do something fun with it. I just recently finished the last of my homemade granola, so what would be better than making a new batch of granola....with dark chocolate?! And what if I decided to add some all natural peanut butter and coconut? Almost sounds too good to be true doesn't it :-)

Chocolate Coconut Granola

Dark chocolate is an amazing addition to granola. Serve this granola on top of ice cream or banana soft serve or over yogourt. It also tastes amazing when doused with vanilla almond milk. I felt that this needed some dried fruit, so I added dried cranberries, but I think that dried cherries would have taken this recipe over the top!! You can substitute any dried fruit and nuts that you want. This recipe is so easy to personalize.

3 c. oats
1 c. unsweetened coconut
1 c. raw almonds, coarsely chopped
1/4 c. dried cranberries
2/3 c. dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp coconut oil (any light oil would probably work)
1/3 c. natural crunchy peanut butter (any nut butter would work)
2/3 c. maple syrup

Preheat your oven to 325 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl add the oats, coconut, cinnamon and cranberries. Mix well.

In a small saucepan, melt the coconut oil. Add the peanut butter and maple syrup. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Allow mixture to continue to boil for 5 minutes.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until everything is well coated.

Spread the granola out onto the cookie sheet.

Place in the oven and bake for 25 - 27 minutes. Make sure you stir it every 8 to 10 minutes to ensure it doesn't burn.

As soon as the granola is done baking and you remove it from the oven, stir in your chocolate pieces.

Let stand until the granola is cool. Store in an airtight container and enjoy!!

For dinner, I had some of this amazing granola with almond milk. It was AWESOME ~ especially when served in a super cute pink bowl. Thank you Dollarama :-)

This was so incredibly good! It is definitely one of my best batches yet!

What is your favourite way to eat granola?

Have a wonderful Tuesday,

Andrea