Happy Sunday! It’s the happiest day of the week and what makes it even more exciting? Some chocolate of course! I am not picky when it comes to chocolate, I can each chocolate in each and every form. Dark, milk, white I love it all. I love it as it is and even it’s inside cookies, cakes or even granola. I guess you guys get my obsession with chocolate. Anyway, so what kind of granola do you guys like? Are you one of those who tries hard to find the big clusters from the granola box? If yes, then this recipe is for you – big cluster chocolate granola!
And yes I mean they are really big granola clusters like THIS
A lot of recipes for granola clusters call for using an egg white since it helps in holding the clusters together. I didn’t use any and the clusters turned out just fine. The trick is to not stir the oats at all while they are baking, just rotate the tray once at mid-time and then again do not stir while the granola is cooling down. You have to let it cool down for at least 1-2 hours and do not try to stir it while it’s cooling down. Once the granola is cooled, break it into pieces. As you can see my clusters are quite big but you can break the granola into any size you want.
Ingredients3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1.5 teaspoon cinnamon powder
2/3 cup pecans
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup cocoa powder unsweetened
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup dried cranberries
¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips [i used vegan chocolate chips]
Method
* Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or silicone mat. Set aside.
* In a bowl mix together oats, cocoa powder, salt , cinnamon powder and pecans. Set aside.
* In a pan of medium heat, whisk together coconut oil, peanut butter and maple syrup till smooth and well combined.
* Pour the wet mixture over the oats mixture.
* Stir to combine till the oats mixture is completely moistened.
* Transfer the oats to the baking tray in a single layer.
* Bake at 325 for 30 minutes without stirring, rotating the tray once after 15 minutes.
* Remove from oven and let the granola cool for 1-2 hours. Do not stir.
* Once cooled, break into pieces of desirable size and mix in the dried cranberries and chocolate chips.
* Store in an airtight container.