Here is one of my favorite granola recipes courtesy of Lexi’s Clean Kitchen! You can find her original recipe here.
The adjustments I made are as follows:
I made my own chocolate chips (Sweet Laurel’s recipe) with no refined sugar (very easy!) recipe here
I used raw pepitas instead of shredded coconut (due to a mild coconut sensitivity). I think it adds a lot! You could even do half pepitas, half coconut or do in whatever combo you want with the pecans!
Her recipe calls for stirring in chocolate after it’s cooled. I stirred in the chocolate and cherries straight from the oven to make for a more clustered granola
I finely chopped the cherries since I don’t enjoy big chunks of anything in my food unless it’s chocolate!
Here’s my modified version of the recipe below (copied and pasted from her website with my additions added in):
4 cups gluten-free rolled oats
1 cup coconut flakes (I subbed pepitas)
½ cup chopped pecans (see note for nut-free)
1 teaspoon salt
⅓ cup olive oil
½ cup maple syrup
½ cup dried cherries
½ cup chocolate chunks (I subbed my own and added a little more to taste)
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine all ingredients except cherries and choc. chips in a bowl and stir
3. Pour on baking sheet and ensure it’s in an even layer
4. While it’s baking, finely chop the cherries and combine them in a bowl with the choc. chips so they are ready to dump
4. Bake for 22 min, turning halfway through to ensure even baking. I baked it a little longer until it looked crispy- go by your taste/oven
5. Dump finished granola in a bowl fresh from the oven and toss with finely chopped cherries and chocolate chunks. Store in airtight container at room temp. for up to one month
Recipe Notes: Lexi also adds on her website that you can sub pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds for pecans to make a nut free version