- 2 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup white sesame seeds
- ¼ cup cacao nibs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup honey
- ⅓ cup cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup unsweetened toasted coconut flakes
Cacao Coconut Granola
Makes 4 cups
This granola is like the Cocoa Puffs of your childhood, all grown up, without any of the bad stuff (sugar, corn syrup, preservatives). In fact, we replaced all that with coconut oil, seeds and loads of energy-rich cacao…so in our eyes it’s actually good for you! Serve it for breakfast with cashew-date milk, regular milk or honey-sweetened yogurt; sprinkle it on ice cream; stir it into a banana smoothie; or just snack on it straight. This is one of our two Botanica granola staples; give the other one a try, too! It’s available in our shop, too (we ship nationally!).
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Instructions
Preheat oven to 335° and line a baking sheet with parchment. In a large bowl, mix the oats and seeds. Heat a small saucepan to low and melt the coconut oil, honey and vanilla until incorporated. Turn heat down as far as it goes and whisk in the cocoa powder and salt until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Quickly pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix well until every last bit is covered in chocolate. Give it a taste. Stir in a bit more melted honey if you’re looking for something sweeter.
Pour the granola onto your baking sheet and pat into a single solid layer (this will give you maximum clumpage). Bake for 15 minutes, stir and pat down again, and set your timer for 10 minutes. If you start to smell toasty chocolate before the 10 minutes is up, check the granola. It goes from delicious to burned super quickly, and there’s nothing sadder than charred chocolate. Remove it from the oven early if it’s looking dark (the edges usually burn first; we know from experience!). Stir through the cacao nibs and toasted coconut flakes. Let the granola cool completely before serving or sealing (this’ll take an hour or two — be patient!).
Store it in a glass jar and it’ll stay crunchy for weeks. Plastic freezer bags work, too — it just won’t last as long.
Note: Your oven might run hotter than ours, in which case your batch might bake more quickly and burn more easily. If this is the case, bake at 325°F.
