After seeing a fellow RD’s post on Facebook about Nature’s Path Love Crunch Dark Chocolate & Red Berries granola the other day, I literally stopped what I was doing and decided to whip up my own version. I wanted it that bad.

Google led me to this recipe, so using that as a general guide, I made a baby-batch of granola, something I haven’t done in ages. The only thing I didn’t include was dried fruit, as I didn’t have any.

Ingredients:

• 1 c rolled oats
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• cinnamon to taste
• pinch of sea salt
• ~2 tbsp coconut flakes
• 1 tbsp ground flax (because why not?)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp honey (if you want it sweeter, use more)
• 1 tbsp dark chocolate chips
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt coconut oil and honey in a microwave-safe bowl (~10-15 seconds). Whisk in cocoa powder and vanilla. Mix in chocolate chips. Melt a few seconds in the microwave if needed.
3. In another bowl, mix together oats, coconut, flax, cinnamon, and sea salt.
4. Add chocolate mixture to oats. Stir to combine. Spread on a cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes. Remove and stir. Put back in oven and back another 15 or 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes to prevent burning.
5. Allow to cool before pouring into a storage container.

While you could enjoy this for breakfast (serving size is 1/4 cup) with milk (probably great if you want to add fresh berries and nuts, for all you lucky allergy-free folks out there), I think it really shines when used as a garnish to brighten up something simple like plain yogurt with fruit. For those of you who think that’s crazy-RD talk, then hey, how about sprinkling a little over a scoop of ice cream?

What’s your favorite kind of granola?