Sometimes, a girl just needs chocolate for breakfast.

That’s truth, right? Sometimes, you just need a bit of chocolate in the morning. I’ve had this recipe for Chocolate Granola open in a tab on my computer for a week now. The photography is crave worthy! (and I’m not even pretending to recreate that magic!) But I was missing a couple of ingredients. So, I just kept looking at it. Wishing and then forgetting to buy the items I needed on the inevitable milk runs. 

Yesterday, I finally decided to just “fake” it. And while I’ll probably get the ingredients to make this proper in the near future, I have to say, my version came out just fine. 

For the record, I was missing Coconut Oil. In part, because this is a new ingredient for me and I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with what KIND of coconut oil to buy. Costco has a great deal on it (don’t ask me what kind it is, tho!) and I’ve been tempted. But then I start reading labels and it’s so confusing! Organic or not-organic? That part is probably obvious! But cold- pressed or expeller pressed? Virgin or ex-virgin? I have no clue.  I know I don’t want to buy a huge tub of something that we won’t use — or can’t use. 

So, when you don’t know something — it’s google to the rescue, right? A little searching led me to this amazing blog post on decoding coconut oil labels that really cleared up the labeling confusion on coconut oil for me. I now feel like I can go check labels and make an educated buying decision. 

That being said, it still didn’t put coconut oil in my pantry. So, I made this granola with Saffola. And honestly, it’s amazing! I’m sure the coconut oil will give it a better flavor, but this is worth the effort even if you don’t happen to have coconut oil on hand. 

With milk: though, I’m going to confess here — eating this dry by the handful is a lot of fun!

Chocolate Granola 

Ingredients: 

• 4 Cups of rolled oats
• 1 Cup coconut flakes (I used sweetened coconut because that’s what I had!)
• 1 Cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 t of salt (I used Black Hawaiian Salt –it’s divine!)
• 1/2 Cup of cocoa
• 1/3 cup of Safflower Oil
• 1 Tb of Vanilla
• 1/3 cup of Agave
• 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar, packed
• 2 oz of dark chocolate finely chopped

Instructions: 

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
• Mix oats, coconut, pecans, and salt in a large bowl
• Mix oil, vanilla, cocoa, agave, and dark brown sugar in another large bowl
• Combine your wet and dry ingredients. Mixing slowly until the oat mixture is completely coated.
• Spread the yummy goo (dare you not to try it!) onto your baking sheet. As evenly as you can. 
• Bake for 15 minutes and then turn the granola and bake for another 10 mins. Keep an eye on it, it can scorch. 
• When done, sprinkle the chopped chocolate on top of your granola. It will melt — so you’ll need to let it cool before placing in an air-tight container. 

A few notes: this granola is more like coated oatmeal — without all the chunks you might expect with granola. This is an upside when eating it with milk… munching it, not so much.

The next time I make this, I think I’ll add 1/2 cup of chopped dried cherries. But I think chopped dates would be lovely too! 

And yes, I had a bowl for dessert last night. I just couldn’t wait until the morning to have chocolate for breakfast.