Over the past years, breakfast became an important part of my daily routine and nutrition. After trying out plenty of things, I ended up tasting several kinds of oats, müslis and granolas. In most cases, I really didn’t like them. They were too sweet or full with stuff I didn’t want to (i.e. unnecessary preservatives) or didn’t like to eat (i.e dried fruits mainly raisins and dates). So I started working on my own versions of granolas. This post is about one of my favourite type, a chocolate granola with nuts.
Granola
Granola is typically eaten during breakfast, but can also be used as a snack (i.e as a granola bar on a trail or similar adventures). It’s a good way to start your day as it’s relatively high in calories, typically consisting of rolled oats, nuts and a sweetener (such as honey, sugar, agave syrup etc). Furthermore, there can be dried fruits, chocolate or coconut be added to the mix, to give it an even richer taste.
freshly baked chocolate granola
There’s no right or wrong way to have your granola, but typically you have it with some yoghurt or milk and as it has a cereal-like consistency. Add your favourite fruits or flakes, your homemade vanilla sugar, your neighbours honey. Be creative! In case you have issues with your digestion, you might want to add more fibres to your granola. Flax seeds are a great source for that. They are rich in fibres, but also provide you with healthy fats and protein. But be aware that flax seeds are also high in calories. So don’t overdo it.
As it’s easily stored in an air-tight container you can even use it as a great refuelling meal on your hikes, backpacking trips or other physically demanding outdoor activities. Or at the office:
quark and chocolate granola as an office snack
Chocolate Granola
The past months I worked on several types of granola. So far the chocolate version is my go-to kind of granola. It’s delicious, nutritious and also easy to make. Overall granola doesn’t take much active time at all. The time-consuming part is the baking period. You might want to stir the granola in the oven every now and then to ensure an even baking process. Besides that, you can do other things alongside it.
the chocolate granola lasts long in air tight container
Making my granola is a Sunday ritual. I take my time preparing it, mindfully enjoying the creation process. Once it’s baking I prepare lunch or dinner, pack my gym bag, clean the flat, play cards and similar activities. The only important part is, that you can have an eye on your granola.
What I really love about it, is that you cannot really do anything wrong. A few basic principals apply, but that’s part of cooking and baking. Besides that feel free to experiment. 🙂
The chocolate granola is slightly too sweet, but I did that on purpose. I mix a serving of chocolate granola usually with quark. As natural quark or yoghurt are by default rather tart, the two tastes combine well and the final protein bowl, mixed with fresh strawberries, tastes very delicious. In case you have a vegan diet and use soy yoghurt or soy quark you might want to cut down the sweetener, as they are sweeter. The same goes for lactose-free dairy products.
Enjoy the chocolate granola and send me your feedback!
- 2/3 cup soya flakes
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon lineseeds
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (raw)
- 1/2 cup nut mix (or whatever nuts you like)
- 1/8 cup agave syrup
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar (preferably homemade)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cilantro
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon quinoa pops (optional)
- 1/2 cup spelt flakes
- Put the Bowl Ingredients in a bowl and mix until everything is evenly coated with the cocoa powder
- In a pan bring simmer the Pan Ingredients until the liquid starts to thicken. This can take several minutes.
- Heat up your oven to 150°C
- When the liquid has thickened put it into the bowl and gently mix everything. In case you cannot manage to coat everything, you can add a little bit of water.
- Spread everything on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes.
- Now that the chocolate granola has dried a little, add the flakes and the pops and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Let it cool down and store it into an air tight box.