Chocolate Chip Cookie Granola

Chocolate Chip Cookie Granola ~ This is for all you craving chocolate chip cookies but don’t quite want to invest in the butter and calories. I mean, it is January and like most of you I’m detoxing from all the holiday eats.

While this isn’t exactly detox food, it is way better for you than a chocolate chip cookie. Of course it will not be spot-on in flavor, but either is Chocolate Chip Cookie ice cream, but that doesn’t stop us, right?—so, same for this Chocolate Chip Cookie Granola.

 

Make it. Eat it. Sprinkle it over pretty much anything that needs a hit of sweet and crunchy. Or do as I did here and sprinkle it on yogurt, then give the ensemble a few drizzles of chocolate and caramel sauce. Slice up some bananas, throw them in there and call it breakfast or dessert—either way— you can’t go wrong.

A few notes:

1. Make sure to to use rolled oats not quick-cooking oats.
2. The recipe calls for Jamaican allspice, but any allspice will work. I prefer Jamaican allspice because it is a more piquant blend.
3. Don’t be tempted to add the pecans and coconut in the everything else, or they will burn — follow the steps in the recipe.
4. For the olive oil, I like a robustly-flavored one from Pompeian. It adds a nice, savory note against the sweet background of this granola recipe.

Yield: Makes approximately 6 cups

Chocolate Chip Cookie Granola

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Ingredients

• 1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
• 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Jamaican allspice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup brown rice syrup
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Heat oven 325 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Spread the pecans on the baking sheet and bae until toasted and golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer a bowl. Set aside to cool, reserving prepared baking sheet.
3. In a large bowl whisk together oats, sunflower seeds, salt, cinnamon and allspice.
4. In a second bowl, whisk together the olive oil, honey, brown rice syrup and vanilla. Pour wet mixture onto oat mixture and fold to combine.
5. Pour out mixture to the prepared baking sheet and less into a single layer. Bake undisturbed for about 25-30 minutes, or until the mixture is lightly browned and toasted in appearance. (For looser granola, stir the mixture every 15 minutes.)
6. Sprinkle coconut on top and bake for another 7-10 minutes. Remove the granola from the oven and stir in the pecans. Set aside to cool completely before adding the mini chocolate chips (this will prevent it from melting into the granola).
7. Store the granola in an airtight container for up to 7 days, at room temperature. Store in the refrigerator to extend the granola to 14 days.