In the Kitchen: Homemade Heavenly Chocolate Granola Recipe

Join our resident foodie creator, Ifat, in the kitchen as she whips up her super delicious and healthy Heavenly Chocolate Granola…

My hubby loves that we can trace where all our raw ingredients come from and what is actually going into our systems when we make our own food.  He loves that all my little creations have access to key nutritional ingredients to make them healthy and strong.

Recently, I have been so consumed with ‘life’ (with three kids aged five and under!), that I haven’t had much time to experiment in the kitchen like making Kiddie Kefir Gummies, Kefir Ice-Lollies, homemade cookies, cakes, bread, breakfasts and lunches.  So when the weekend comes, I love to make a spread of six to eight salads on the table for everybody to enjoy! Anyone who knows me knows this is what I absolutely LOVE to do. I love creating and I equally love challenges in giving “bad food” a makeover.

So the challenge this week was to recreate a healthier version of an old time favourite…good ol’ chocolatey granola! (This recipe is gluten free, dairy free and vegan friendly!)

Ingredients

3 cups Oatmeal
1 ½ cups Sprouted Buckwheat
2 cups Brown Rice Cereal
1 cup Mixed Nuts (Hazelnuts, Almonds, Pecan, Walnuts, Macadamia, Pistachio)
½ cup Chia Seeds
¼ tsp Celtic or Himalayan Salt
2 Tbsp Coconut Sugar or Date Sugar
1/3 cup Maple Syrup, Coconut Nectar, Raw Honey or Molasses
2 Tbsp Apple Sauce
1/3 cup coconut oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup Raw Cacao Powder
1 cup Crushed Raw Chocolate Bar (I use Raiz the Bar Chocolate!)
¾ cup Sweet Raw Cacao Nibs

Steps

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°F or your dehydrator to 45°F.
2. Combine oats, buckwheat, brown rice cereal, chia seeds and coconut sugar.
3. Roughly chop mixed nuts and add them to the mix.
4. Add the raw cacao powder and apple sauce.
5. In a small saucepan over low-medium heat, melt coconut oil. Add maple syrup, vanilla, salt. Mix for about three minutes with a whisk until all is combined smoothly. (Or to keep things raw just combine using a whisk minus the heat!)
6. Pour the warm liquid ingredients over the dry and combine all together.
7. Spread out mixture evenly on a lined baking sheet and press firmly with clean hands to ensure the granola is tightly packed.
8. Place in oven for about 15-20 minutes, or in the dehydrator until completely dry and crispy.
9. Remove from the oven. When it has cooled down, break the granola into chunky pieces.
10. Place back into the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can place the granola back in the dehydrator until the texture is more to your liking. (P.S. the chocolatey smell should be filling up your kitchen by now!)
11. Take out the granola and have a taste test to see if it’s ready, if not put it back in for a while longer.
12. Finally, break the granola a little more and add in the raw crushed chocolate and the sweet cacao nibs. Give it a good mix so it’s well combined and viola! Your very own Heavenly Chocolate Granola.

Want to make your delicious creation last long (although we bet your first batch will be gobbled up quickly!)? Store your chocolately granola in an air-tight container like glass mason jars. Enjoy this nutritious snack over your favourite Nice Cream (frozen bananas whizzed up in a blender, too easy!) or with your preferred nut or seed milk, or even on top of coconut yogurt!

We hope you loved this wonderful recipe (guilt-free!) and please share with your family and friends!