Recipe: Antioxidant Chocolate Walnut Coconut Granola

Cool weather always makes me crave granola + it’s pretty awesome mixed with my favorite yogurt (Redwood Hill Farms Goat Yogurt). I decided it was time to try something new (check out the Cardamom Coconut Granola Recipe if you want something sans chocolate). I found this great recipe over at Texan Erin and tweaked a bit. I added dried berries to up the antioxidant quotient (berries + dark cocoa powder = major antioxidant boost which help fight free radicals) and coconut chips because we had a massive bag of them. It came out pretty darn good, not too sweet with a rich chocolate flavor.

Antioxidant Rich Chocolate Walnut Coconut Granola

• 1/2 cup organic virgin coconut oil
• 1/3 cup local honey
• 1/2 cup best organic dark cocoa powder you can buy
• 1/4 cup organic turbinado sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (homemade)
• 1 cup walnuts roughly chopped
• 4 1/2 cups organic rolled oats
• 1 cup coconut chips (these are sweetened, up sugar if you use unsweetened coconut flakes)
• 1/2 cup antioxidant berry mix (goji berries, cherries, raisins, cranberries)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a full sheet pan/baking sheet with a parchment paper.
• Put rolled oats and walnuts into large mixing bowl.
• In a sauce pan, gently melt the coconut oil.
• Stir honey, cocoa powder, sugar and salt into melted coconut oil and bring to a simmer.
• Remove from the heat and add in the vanilla extract.
• Add the cocoa mixture to the oats and stir thoroughly, make sure oats and walnuts are coated evenly.

• Spread granola mixture over parchment lined baking sheet.
• Bake for 15-25 minutes.
• Take granola out of the oven and add coconut and berries.
• Return to the oven and bake for 5 more minutes to gently roast coconut.
• Remove granola from oven and let cool completely (1-2 hours) before storing in airtight container.
• Enjoy!