Healthy Cookie Granola Clusters
Tastes like dessert but with good-for-you ingredients.
Servings: 4 cups
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- a pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted almonds chopped, sliced, or slivered
- 1/3 cup coconut oil you can substitute with butter but not with other oils.
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar or light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2-1 cup chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, almond flour, salt, and almonds.
- Add the coconut oil, coconut sugar, and maple syrup to a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
- Pour the warm mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well until everything is evenly coated. It's going to look a little dry at first — keep mixing! It comes together.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and firmly press it into an even layer. Pressing it down tightly is the secret to getting large, crunchy clusters instead of loose granola.
- Bake for 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let the granola cool for 5–10 minutes.
- Break the granola into chunks while it's still warm, then spread the pieces out and return them to the oven for another 10 minutes.
- Let the granola cool almost completely. While it's still slightly warm (but not hot), stir in the chocolate chips so they lightly stick to the clusters without fully melting.
- Allow the granola to cool completely before storing. It will continue to crisp up as it cools.