Chocolate Granola

Breakfast made naughty by Nat* (Lead Guide)

INGREDIENTS

¼ cup melted coconut oil

½ cup maple syrup

⅓ cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups rolled oats

½ cup chocolate chips (add after baking)

Time

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

Serves

About a week of naughty snacking/topping/breakfast

(for me, a day!)

Storage

Airtight cereal bin

OR re-useable ziplock bag

METHOD

Heat. Preheat oven to 175℃ / 350℉

Melt. Coconut oil (if not liquid already) Can put jar in a pot of hot water.

Combine. Mix together in a large bowl the coconut oil, maple syrup, cocoa powder and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.

Add. Rolled oats and salt to the large bowl. Mix it all together until the rolled oats are completely covered.

Spread. All the rolled oats mixture out evenly, onto a non-stick or lined baking sheet.

Get bakin'! Place the sheet in the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes (keep an eye on it, if your oven runs hot)

Sweeeeten. When semi-cooled add half the chocolate chips and mix, add the over half when fully cooled, and mix.

Serve. In a bowl with your favourite milk or topped on a smoothie.

(Added Extras?! You can mix up the recipe further like I love to do, by adding ~¼ cup of each coconut flakes and freeze dried strawberries/raspberries... Or add fresh seasonal fruits! YUM!)

Notes from Nat: This is great as a naughty breakfast, a dessert, treat or topping on a smoothie!

Vegan chocolate chips can be found in most health food stores or supermarkets.
Be sure to use a plant-based milk instead of dairy.
Get your dry ingredients from a bulk store or bulk section of your supermarket and use your own jars and bags. Check out some of the stores in the Sea to Sky and Vancouver here.
Vegan chocolate chips can be purchased from zero waste market sections of select Green Moustache Cafe's. You can bring your own jars to re-use, or pay a deposit and get it in ready-filled jars that you can re-fill or return in future.
Plant-based milks can be pre-ordered and purchased from The Velvet Underground (just across the road from Green Mo-Function Junction!) and come in re-usable glass bottles, or even better, bring your own container for them to transfer the milk into Shop Velvet Cafe
If you’re interested in making your own oat, soy or nut milks, there are recipes galore online, or you can check out Velvet Underground's YouTube video here.
Earth's Own are a Canadian brand who make plant-based milk products that are available widely throughout the country and are based in Burnaby, BC!
Hit up a local Farmers' Market to find out what fresh berries are in season.
You can adjust your toppings according to the season; fresh berries in the summer, stewed apples & pears or maple syrup in the winter or even berries that you picked in the summer and froze to use in the off-season.
Check out what foods are in season in BC when HERE.
Another great way to ensure you're using seasonal produce is to subscribe to a CSA Box with a local farm and structure your meals around the seasonal produce you've received that week!

*Adapted from Jennifer Reinhard's Double Chocolate Granola