Please bear with me if you are not a granola fan, but this is just another spin on my granola recipe. I’ve made so much of it lately that my husband is afraid I am going to start hugging trees at random and possibly start peeing in the woods. He has been converted to granola, but the kids still aren’t convinced. So, this is what I did to it to make it something they would take in their lunch boxes.
It’s more of a trail mix thing than something you would eat with milk as a cereal. But if you think you would like chocolate chips in your bowl of breakfast cereal, by all means try it out. Or, possibly up the honey and cocoa powder a little and leave the chocolate chips out altogether.
We put it in little containers for them to snack on at school. It’s nut free, of course, because even though there are currently no kids allergic to nuts in the school they are a little hyper vigilant about the nut thing. I added in lots of seeds instead.
Nut-free Chocolatey Chocolate Chip Granola
- 2 cups oatmeal
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
- 1/2 cup seeds (I used flax seed, pumpkin and sunflower)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup honey
- 3 tbsp coconut oil (or oil of your choice)
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- a pinch of sea salt
- 1 egg white, beaten*
- ½ cup chocolate &/or butterscotch chips
Preheat oven to 275F. Heat honey until its thinned and melt coconut oil. Add with vanilla into the dry ingredients and mix well. Add egg white once everything is well mixed and cooled down slightly – you don’t want to cook the egg white with the warm oil, mix well again. Spread onto well-greased baking sheet (or use a silicone sheet like I did) and bake for around 25 to 30 minutes, or until mixture is dry and crunchy. Once it has cooled, add in ½ cup of chocolate chips and/or butterscotch chips.
*The addition of the egg white lets the granola clump a little more, making it easier to eat as a dry snack.
Linking to Bringing Beauty, Frugally Sustainable, Like a Mustard Seed, Your Green Resource, Cheerios and Lattes, An Original Belle
