Dark Chocolate, Strawberry-Banana Granola

So, we finally got a Whole Foods within an hour of me. Yay! The other day, since I was over ‘near’ that part of town, and it was my day off, I decided to take an extra 30-minute detour to visit this lovely little place.

I always just buy a bunch of random ingredients, and really the ones I was on the lookout for, I couldn’t find… but I did walk out with a few snacks and already prepped stuff [think:pizza, pimento dip, salsa].I also found this yummy sounding granola made by Love Crunch — it was a dark chocolate granola with freeze dried raspberries and strawberries. I was looking for something that rated well on Fooducate — this stuff came in at a B!  I fell in love with it! I originally bought it to top smoothie bowls or yogurt, but ended up just eating it plain. For some reason, I love fruits that are freeze-dried. I can only find them certain places, and really usually don’t buy them since they’re a little pricey for the amount (weight) you get in a bag. But this granola had just enough in there to hook me. ANDDD it has little bits of dark chocolate floating around in there.

Anyways, I’m sure they sell this at some of the grocery stores closer to me… but also, I was sure I could make a similar granola and be just as happy… so here’s my rendition. I used freeze-dried strawberries and bananas that I found from Publix, and chopped up a super indulgent dark-chocolate candy bar to add too… you know those bars down that candy aisle.. Top shelf, super good chocolate. I never buy them, but I thought now was the time — it’s for granola — AND word around the street is that dark chocolate is actually pretty good for you (in moderation, of course).

I got some inspiration for this recipe from The Baker Mama’s Chunky Homemade Granola recipe (click to view). The final result was an awesome chocolatey treat — while still maintaining some nutritional benefits ~ almonds, oats, dark chocolate, and the freeze dried fruits. It’s good plain or added to a smoothie bowl or yogurt!