December 9, 2012

Chocolate Granola


Today's my sweet husband's birthday.  As I've mentioned several times on this site, he loves chocolate!  So I wanted to surprise him with some chocolaty treats, but he's as bad as I am when it comes to surprises!  He really wanted to know what I was up to, so I had him taste test this granola.  It's really good, if you love chocolate as much as he does.  It is pretty sweet-I think I'll cut the chocolate just a tad next time.  Coconut would taste great with this or if you wanted to turn it into a snack mix, salty nuts or pretzels would be a nice addition.

                     Happy Birthday, my love!     

3-1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine the oats, wheat germ, and almonds.  Mix well.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, salt, honey, and vanilla.  Pour over the dry mixture.  Stir well with a large spatula and toss until everything is well combined.  Spread the granola on a large baking sheet that has been coated with cooking spray.  Bake for 90 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so.  Remove from oven when golden brown.  Allow to cool on pan about 15 minutes.  When the granola is still warm, transfer to a large bowl.  Add the chocolate chips and stir well as the chocolate melts and granola is coated evenly.  Cool completely.  Store in a tightly closed container at room temperature for several weeks.  Granola also freezes well.  I like making big batches to freeze when we go camping.


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