Friday Recipe: Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Granola

Found this on Woman's Day under 14 Delicious Ways to Have Chocolate for Breakfast, which originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.com, but the real recipe is from Oh My Veggies (it's 6 degrees of separation...or a flow chart. Same thing?)

Any way you look at it, chocolate-covered anything is yummy. Picture is theirs (Oh My Veggies). So much prettier!

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Granola

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: About 8 cups

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup coconut oil (solid, not melted)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup golden brown sugar
• 1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups sliced almonds
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 cups (1.2 ounces) freeze-dried strawberries
• 1 (4-ounce) 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate bar (or substitute another chocolate bar or chips of your choosing)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a large rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
2. Add the coconut oil, butter, and honey to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter and coconut oil melt. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cocoa powder. Pour this into the coconut oil/butter/honey mixture and stir with a whisk, stirring constantly until smooth, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in the salt and vanilla extract.
3. In a large bowl, toss together the rolled oats, almonds, and coconut. Pour the wet mixture over the top and stir well with a wooden spoon, until most of the dry ingredients are coated.
4. Spread onto the cookie sheet and bake, stirring every 10 minutes, until the granola is fragrant and beginning to turn golden brown--about 30 minutes total. Remove from the oven and let the granola cool to the touch, about 10 minutes. Break the pieces up with your fingers, then let the granola cool the rest of the way.
5. Once cool, add the strawberries, breaking them into smaller pieces with your hands as you mix them into the granola.
6. To melt the chocolate, use a double boiler or place an oven-proof bowl over a medium saucepan of barely simmering water. Break the chocolate into chunks and place them into the double boiler/bowl, stirring constantly just until melted. Drizzle the chocolate over the granola and allow to cool until hardened, 1 to 2 hours.
7. With your hands, break up the granola to distribute the chocolate and transfer to a bowl or storage container.
8. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks. Note: don't let it get too warm, or the chocolate may melt and you'll have messy granola on your hands (literally)!