Coffee. You are someone who either hates or loves it, but I certainly am the latter kind of person. My favorite way to enjoy it is in form of a good old iced latte. But I also welcome a bowl of this crunchy mocha chocolate granola for breakfast. With yoghurt nicecream and berries and a mug of tea… what a great way to start the day!
Growing up, Muesli has always been a standard breakfast for busy mornings. My mum would always get up very early and I could already hear her preparing coffee and tea for my brother and me. She then either made semolina porridge or added a muesli mix from the store to a bowl with some milk. We rarely had sugary breakfast cereals as my mum wanted us to eat “brain food” for school and only occasionally bough cacao puffs or cinnamon honey pops.
To be honest, as child I never liked these natural muesli mixes. They tasted bland and I didn’t enjoy them half raw- half soggy from the milk (nowadays, when I found out how to make them taste delicious, I LOVE them- funny how tastes can change!).
What DID however got me out of bed immediately was the smell of stovetop granola, that my mother roasted in a pan with honey and some spices. She would serve them with some yoghurt and (if she had any) topped everything with raspberries-her favorite ones.
Granola is something that I have always associated with comfort and love- whether that’s a homemade, chocolatey version or a store bought one. Enjoying a bowl brings back a piece of my childhood memories and reminds me why I love it so much.
About this crunchy mocha chocolate granola
This granola proofs that naturally sweetened cereals by no way have to taste bland! Because with “natural” I really mean as close as it could get to nature: its sweetened with almost ONLY dates. Theres just a little bit of (coconut) sugar invovled too, because I decided it was creating the perfect amount of sweetness. Mixed together with vanilla extract, water and some almond butter they make a creamy, caramel-like sauce.
I know, it sounds like an expensive matter to bake things with nuts, seeds and dried fruit, especially dates. But you don’t even have to use the medjool ones to get a delicious flavour. AAAAnnnnndddd if you think HOW MUCH you get when making granola by yourself in reletaion to buying it from a grocery store you will notice that it most often even cheaper. Not to forget that YOU can decide the flavor of your morning cereal!
Now that we’ve cleared whats making it so sweet, its not hard to guess the other ingredients: oats, puffed grains (amaranth, quinoa or rice are all good!) cacao powder, coffee powder, a bit of desiccated coconut and vanilla extract and some almond butter. Oh, I almost forgot : cacao nibs or dark chocolate chips/chunks (or a mix of both- my personal favorite). Because chocolate always makes things better, right?
I hope you enjoy this granola as much as I do and if you try it, please let me know how you like it! Well then, get your oven started, because we’re making some very tasty granola!
ALL THE BEST
Crunchy Mocha chocolate granola
Ingredients
- 250 g oats
- 50 g puffed grains (amaranth, quinoa, rice)
- 100 g pitted dates (soaked in hot water for about 10 minutes)
- 2 Tbsp (30g) almond butter *
- 1/4 Cup +1Tbsp water
- 1 Tsp vanilla extract
- 1 heaped Tbsp (15g) coconut sugar
- 2 heaped Tbsp (20g) cacao powder
- 2 Tsp coffee powder (coffee beans ground into a fine flour)
- 1/4 Tsp salt
- handful (around 15g) dessiccated coconut
- large handful (50g) cacao nibs, chocolate chips or a mix of both
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 C and line a bink tray with some parchment paper.
- Mix the oats, puffed grains, cacao powder, coffee powder, coconut sugar and salt in a large bowl.
- In a blender blend the dates with the water, almond butter and vanilla extract until completely smooth and there are no chunks left.
- Add the date mixture to the dry ingredients and stir everything together to combine well.
- Spread out the ???onto the lined baking tray. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 180C bake for 20-25 minutes. Check every few minutes to make sure nothing gets burned. Towards the end (about 5 minutes before finishing) of the baking process break the base into peaces using a large wooden spoon.
- Let cool completely befor mixing in the cacao nibs/ chocolate chips/ mix of both. Store in an airtight container for about 2 weeks and enjoy!
