Chocolate Fruit and Pecan Granola

One of my favorite snacks to munch on is granola. I enjoy both chewy and crunchy granola in bar or broken up form. Plain or dressed with fruit, nuts or chocolate are all quite swell. It’s a filling snack that satisfies those afternoon sweet cravings without the loads of sugar and empty carbs. It’s also great with yogurt (If you’ve never tried greek yogurt with granola mixed in, I suggest you try it!) and you can even enjoy it in the same manner as you would cereal. Just put it in a bowl, top with milk and munch away.

A while back I made my first homemade granola recipe, cranberry almond granola. It was inspired by a granola recipe that I saw on White Lights on Wednesday. It was oh so good. I made it twice within a month!  Recently I decided to throw together a different type of granola recipe. I wanted to incorporate some other dried fruit as well as chocolate. I also wanted to try it with maple syrup as a sweetener rather than honey. Maple syrup is definitely a winner and will probably be my go to sweetener for any future granola recipe I make. It taste fantastic in the granola. I hope you enjoy my recipe!

Chocolatey Fruit N Pecan Granola

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 C rolled oats
• 1 C shredded sweet coconut
• 1/4 C sesame seeds
• 1/2 C dried cranberries
• 1/2 C dried pineapple
• 1/2 C semi sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 C chopped pecans
• 1/2 C maple syrup
• 1/2 C olive oil

Directions

1. Combine the maple syrup and olive oil. Heat for 20 seconds and then set aside.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Pour the maple syrup mixture over the oat mixture and mix well, ensuring that all of the oats, fruit, nuts and chocolate are coated.
4. Spread the mixture over a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
5. Bake at 300 for 30 minutes or until the oats are slightly golden.