Granola

I've blogged about making granola before, but I have a new twist...

I put together a batch of trail mix (this time granola+Craisins+chocolate chips) for the car ride to New York.  I figured if Olivia and I were off on our eating schedule I could snack on the go, so I had it on the passenger's seat, safely in the air conditioning, or so I thought.  As the day progressed I kept getting more chocolate on my hands until I gave up and stopped eating it lest I end up with chocolate on my clothes or on the car seats.  (I opted for cloth seats this time so it won't stick to my legs in the summer.)  And when we got to NY I left the bag of granola in the car (mostly because my MIL always has cookies on hand for snacking, it's so great).  Since the weather was cool and beautiful the chocolate chips solidified, forming clumps of granola for me to enjoy on the drive home.  Added bonus: Clumps make it easier to get in my mouth while driving, so less searching for crumbs. 

So I figured I must try making clumpy granola on purpose.  After a couple rounds of making granola and then microwaving it with chocolate chips, I had the duh-moment of adding the chips to the ingredients before baking since the temp is so low and I don't stir my granola while baking.  Here is my latest version of Alton Brown's recipe:

Cranberry Chocolate Chunky Granola

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup sliced/slivered almonds

3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut

1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt (less if using salted almonds)

1 cup Craisins

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.  
2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, flaked coconut, chocolate chips, and Craisins. 
3. In a small bowl stir together the coconut oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, and salt.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, then pour/pat into a sheet pan with sides. Bake for an hour and 15 minutes.  Don't stir if you are using chocolate chips!
5. Allow to cool completely. (I pop mine in the fridge until the chocolate solidifies). Break into clumps.