Chocolate granola...

We've been quite fond of that Peanut Butter Granola we first made a few months ago - I can't even remember how many times we have made it now. We still haven't gotten tired of it, but we thought we should at least try out a few other recipes we've been collecting along the way.

Since it used pantry staples, I was able to get this recipe for Chocolate Crunch in the oven pretty quickly this morning. In additional to the normal rolled oats you would find in most granola recipes, this one also includes Cheerios (well, that it what I used anyway, it originally called for Rice Krispies), brown sugar, slivered almonds, salt and a bit of cinnamon.

Adding sweetness and moisture to the dry ingredients is honey, a little canola oil, vanilla and a couple ounces of melted bittersweet chocolate. The chocolate is really what drew me to this recipe as we've never tried one that included it. These ingredients get fairly thick when mixed together, so you'll need to roll up your sleeves, get down and dirty and use your hands to get everything thoroughly combined. For a little contrast in texture, a few chewy dried cranberries are tossed into the fully baked granola. This won't produce a "clumpy" granola as there is not much fat in it, but nonetheless it was quite good and the chocolate really brought a tasty different dimension. Try it in a parfait of fresh berries and yogurt, over a couple scoops of ice cream or just snack on it right out of the container as we ended up doing this afternoon after we tested it out over some vanilla yogurt!

Recipes
Chocolate Crunch