Who doesn’t want to eat chocolate anytime of the day? I would, my husband would, pretty much all of my friends would and my toddler certainly would without a doubt (I know this because he suggests this to me multiple times a day, everyday). Well, guess what? You can. Huh? Yes, you can. You can even eat it for breakfast, and get this, it is actually good for you. Yes my Healthy Chocolate Banana Granola is so yummy, nutty and chocolatey that you’ll want to have it every morning for breakfast like I do or even as a snack anytime of the day and you can because it is healthy and good for you. Wins all round.
I am a cereal for breakfast type of gal through and through. Every morning I have to have my bowl of cereal or I can turn a little ‘hangry’. Toast, a piece of fruit or even eggs just don’t cut the mustard, it has to be a big bowl of cereal with some yoghurt and fruit on top (alongside my mandatory tea). Even if I go out for brunch I will still start my day with a big bowl of cereal at home first. Occasionally I’ll go completely wild and have a bowl of porridge but with two busy little boys running around that is usually just too much work. I usually like to buy whatever cereal is reasonably healthy and on sale but these days I am getting really tired of choosing cereal at the supermarket. I feel like there are two types available: one is affordable but full of unnecessary sugar and the second is the delicious, wholegrain, nut and dried fruit type of cereal I would love to eat but it is $20 for a small packet that lasts less than a week. Who can actually afford that? Well the other week I decided to splash out and get a delicious packet of macadamia and honey granola that had no added refined sugar and was just full of the good stuff for $12.99. Ouch. It lasted me five measly days. It was pretty darn delicious but nothing I couldn’t easily make at home and because everything is always better with chocolate, my Healthy Chocolate Banana Granola was born.
My Healthy Chocolate Banana Granola contains all the yummy things I really want to eat for breakfast in a one stop shop: chocolate, banana, maple syrup, nuts, oats and coconut. You can even add some dried fruit if that takes your fancy. Mmmm dried cranberries would be nice. Or just top it with some fresh fruit and yoghurt each morning. Blueberries anyone? It’s the middle of winter here so mine are frozen but they’re still pretty good. Don’t worry it is a cinch to make and the recipe makes a pretty big batch (recipe doubles really well) that will last for 2-3 weeks in an airtight container. I make a big batch on a Sunday night while I’m cooking dinner it’s really that simple. The only gotcha is that you have to keep a close eye on it because the nuts can burn quickly. So just use a timer, set it to go off every 5 minutes and give the granola a stir and I promise you won’t have any black bits.
Enjoy your chocolate for breakfast everyone!
Kate xoxo
P.S. I do give this to my toddler and he loves it but I always pick out the whole nuts first.
Healthy Chocolate Banana Granola
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1 1/2 cups raw mixed nuts such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, brazil nuts or cashews
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 6 Tbsp cacao or cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
- 2/3 cup maple syrup or honey
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups mashed banana about 4 medium bananas
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 180C/350F fan bake.
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Mix together the oats, coconut, 1/2 cup nuts, sea salt and cocoa in a large bowl. Roughly chop remaining 1 cup of nuts and add to the dry ingredients.
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In a separate bowl mix together the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla and add to the dry ingredients along with the mashed banana. Mix well to combine.
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Lay out mixture over two lined baking trays and place in the oven to bake for 15-25min, turning every 5 mins. The nuts in this mixture can burn really easily so keep a close eye on the granola during cooking and give it a good turn every 5 min. If you have a hot oven you may like to set it to 160C/320F.
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Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container for 2-3 weeks.
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