The Christmas season is officially open and that means thinking about gifts for the family. How about a homemade almond and chocolate granola?
I’ve always liked to make homemade gifts and I’m more and more keen on doing that. There is nothing like offering something homemade, with a lot of love, something that is actually special.
I have been offering gifts made by me. Usually food, but not only! And I really feel that they are much more valued than ordinary gifts that we can buy anywhere.
This almond and chocolate granola is the perfect gift for this Christmas! It’s not very complicated, there’s not a lot of work involved when it comes to preparing the recipe and it is an oven baked recipe.
So?, you ask… The good part is that while the granola is in the oven, you can do other things! So it’s perfect for time saving.
Once done, put the granola in a glass jar, tie some nice ribbons and you will see that the lucky person who receives your gift will just LOVE it!
Well, actually you can make this almond and chocolate granola for yourself and not necessarily to offer…
I made it for breakfast at home and it looks like I’ll have to double the dose, because it was gone in no time!
I’m suspicious, but this granola is really good and super crispy.
I’m used make my own granola at home, but this time I did it differently. I was inspired by Thomas’ granola from ActiveFlow.Someone sent me the recipe and I decided to adapt it with what I had at home.
Do you want to know the trick? I’ll tell you everything below.
If you want another granola recipe, check out the nuts and cocoa granola.
But how do we cook this almond and chocolate granola?
There’s no secret! You just need to have all the ingredients at hand.
As for tips and suggestions, I’ll leave some options below. And of course, in case of doubt, you can always talk to me!
For this almond and chocolate granola you will need:
- Rolled oats
- Almonds
- Pumpkin seeds
- Linseeds
- Cocoa or chocolate powder
- Salt
- Eggs
- Honey, maple syrup or another sweetener of your choice
- Apple or other fruit to serve
- Yogurt to serve
And are there any tricks to make this almond and chocolate granola super crispy?
Believe me, it’s so easy!
- Use rolled oats. As the pieces are bigger, it will become crunchier after cooking in the oven.
- Chop the almonds. Since they are hard, they’ll toast easily and they’ll be crunchier. You can use rolled almonds, if you prefer.
- I used seeds because they are naturally crunchy and therefore it helps in this whole process.
- Choose the sweetener of your choice, but remebmer if it’s liquid, the result gets better. When combined into the mixture, it caramelizes.
- And the greatest trick are the egg whites. They help the ingredients to bind to each other and therefore the granola gets more crunchy and aggregate.
Let’s check the step by step?
Almond and Chocolate Granola
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup linseeds
- 1 tbsp raw cocoa or chocolate powder
- Salt to taste
- 3 egg whites
- 1 a 2 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 1 Apple (or another fruit of your choice)
- Yogurt to serve
Instructions
- If you don't have the almonds chopped, start by chopping them.
- In a large bowl, place the oats, the chopped almonds, the pumpkin and the linseed seeds. Add the cocoa or chocolate powder and salt and mix well.
- Add the honey or maple syrup and combine.
- Pour the egg whites in the previous mixture and mix well until all ingredients are well combined.
- Line a tray with baking paper and spread the granola.
- Press a little with the back of a spoon, so that the pieces are more compact. This way the granola will have crunchier pieces.
- Take it to the preheated oven at 160º for 30 min.
- To obtain a uniform consistency, stir the granola in the middle of the process, so that it bakes on all sides.
- Remove from the oven and let it to cool.
- Serve with yogurt and apple slices.
