Cocoa Granola

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

In a large bowl, combine the first 10 ingredients. Mix well with a wooden spoon. It is up to you if you wish to chop the nuts or not as some people prefer whole nuts in their granola and others do not. I personally did not chop the nuts.

In a small pan over medium heat, melt the honey and 1/4 cup cocoa together, stirring well and frequently until the mixture is thin and dark brown. Make sure the honey has melted and is not as thick as usual.

Pour the honey and cocoa mixture over the dry ingredients and stir well with a wooden spoon until most of the nuts are covered in the mixture. This is hard to do, I admit, so if not all the nuts are covered it’s ok. Add the other 2 tablespoons of cocoa to the bowl and make sure it covers the granola mixture.

Pour the granola onto a well-greased flat ovenproof tray making sure the granola is spread evenly. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Using a wooden spoon turn the granola so the mixture on the bottom is now on the top. This also helps to spread the honey mixture through the granola. Bake for another 15-20 minutes, stirring as necessary. I stirred the mixture every couple of minutes.

Once the granola is done cooking, the mixture will be a dark brown from the cocoa.

Once the granola is completely cool, and I mean completely cool, add the remaining chocolate chips if you wish. The granola must be cool or these chips will melt into the mixture and not remain whole.

Serve with yoghurt or almond milk for best results. Or eat straight from the container.

Makes 8 cups of granola.