I always think about my husband Brett when I think about granola. Weird I know, but let me explain. During our first week of dating, when we were just getting to know each other, I quickly found out that he ate yogurt, granola and fruit for breakfast. I also discovered that he drank almond milk and bought fish for easy dinners.
"WOW," I thought. This guy cares about eating healthy!
You might think I'm shallow for having healthy eating be a major reason for liking a guy, but I had never met a guy that liked granola and almond milk and didn't consider them "sissy."
Brett and I traveled a lot during our dating period...all 5 months of it. Usually my trips were overseas and I often had to eat weird foods and go without eating my favorite foods for weeks at a time. Cereal with cold milk and veggies were things I always craved during the weeks I was overseas and Brett would always hear about it when we Skyped.
So, Brett being the sweet, thoughtful guy that he is, would stock up my fridge with groceries right before he picked me up from the airport. He'd buy spinach, bananas, greek yogurt, almond milk and granola! Most times, as soon as I set my luggage down in my house, we'd sit down and eat a bowl of granola with sliced bananas and cold, delicious almond milk. Ah, nothing tasted better.
Since going vegan, and now that I look at ingredient labels, I don't eat cereal from the store much and I would rather eat homemade granola than store bought when possible. Brett still loves granola and eats it most mornings, so for a while now I've been trying to come up with a granola recipe that's tasty enough for him and healthy enough for me.
And I think I found the happy medium with this Chocolate Cherry Granola.
Eat this granola with cold almond milk or sprinkle it overtop of your favorite yogurt or smoothie bowls!
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Cranberry Granola
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS:
- 3 cups oatmeal
- ⅔ cup raw buckwheat grouats
- ⅓ cup sunflower seeds
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
WET INGREDIENTS:
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 6 tablespoons pure maple syrup
ADD-INS:
- ½ cup craisins
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 340 °F.
- In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the wet ingredients and heat until warmed and fully combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix well until all the dry ingredients are coated in the chocolate liquid.
- Spread the mixture onto 1-2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and bake for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, stir the granola with a spatula and then continue baking for 3-7 minutes longer.
- Make sure the granola doesn't burn! It will get harder after it sits at room temperature and it's hard to tell when it's done since it's chocolate colored.
- Let the granola cool completely before stirring in the craisins.
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