Chocolatey Date and Fig Granola

I have a terrible store-bought granola habit I’m trying to break. I’ve tried almost every brand at Whole Foods at this point and they’re all just kind of so-so. Sufficient enough as a snack but a far cry from the crunchy goodness of the homemade variety. Early morning to mid afternoons have been so busy for us lately that I often don’t get to eat breakfast or lunch until late. If I get the time in the morning, I’ll have a bowl of yogurt drizzled with almond butter and topped with granola. The lackluster store-bought granola can make this snack feel like a chore to eat. Yet out of sheer laziness, I keep going back to them. Finally this week, I put my foot down. No more crappy expensive granola! I wanted to make my dream granola. The perfect combination of all the things I love.

I like my granola clumpy, crunchy and a bit on the sweet side. For most of my life I’ve not been much of a chocolate person but I seem to have a taste for it lately. I had a leftover box of Valrhona cocoa powder left over from a Christmas baking project that was itching to be used for something special. I was a little hesitant to use such a luxurious baking product for something as humble as granola, but in the end the sacrifice was totally worth it. There had to be coconut, too. I can never get enough coconut (hence coconut oil and flakes). I decided on both slivered and whole almonds for maximum crunch factor and it paid off. This truly is the best granola I’ve ever had and I highly recommend baking up a batch for yourself this weekend. Jeff and I cannot stop eating this granola by the handful, so I may be making another batch too!