Happy New Year! Amazing how time flies. We are still cooking and mixing our drinks, and have some new favorites- so time to get back to blogging. And why not start with something so good we have to give it away to spare our waistlines…chocolate granola. Yes, that’s right. Chocolate. Granola. Both great on their own, but even better when combined. Pure awesomeness.

And even better if you use Mast Brothers chocolate. The recipe comes from the Mast Brothers Family Cookbook, and it is an instant classic here at the farm. If you are unfamiliar with Mast Brothers, they are chocolatiers from Brooklyn (Williamsburg, just to make them super-cool). Now, being from California, and usually liking to buy local, you may not expect that we favor chocolate from Brooklyn. But good is good, and Mast Brothers rocks. The flavor and consistency of their chocolate truly stands out. We were lucky enough to visit their shop last fall and it was a delight. Hard to get us to leave.

But we did return to California with a good stockpile of chocolate and just had to make this recipe. Not only is chocolate granola easy to make, but it works both for breakfast and dessert (and also makes for a tasty pre-surf snack). And if you don’t have Mast Brothers chocolate, and good quality dark chocolate will do.

Otherwise, you are making basic granola with nuts, oats and honey and then adding cocoa, cacao nibs, chocolate, dried cranberries and butter. Pretty hard to go wrong here. But what may surprise you is just how well the bitter edge of the cacao nibs and the tart dried cranberries work with the granola and chocolate. You end up with a surprisingly complex dish with layers of flavors and textures. So good it is hard to stop eating it…in fact, we didn’t…;-)

Chocolate Granola

(Adapted from the Mast Brothers Family Cookbook)

Notes Before You Start:

• Be sure to let your granola cool completely before you add the other ingredients. Trust us on this one.

What You Get: The best granola / chocolate snack ever.

What You Need: Good dark chocolate. No special equipment required.

How Long? About an hour with only 5-10 minutes of active time. Anytime dish.

Ingredients:

(makes about 5 cups)

• 1 cup almonds, roughly chopped
• 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup honey (use a light flavored honey)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup cacao nibs
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries (dried cherries also work)
• 5 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

Assemble:

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine almonds, pecans, rolled oats, honey and brown sugar. Then spread evenly on a baking sheet.
3. Place the baking sheet in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
4. Melt the butter and cocoa powder in saucepan over low heat.
5. In a large bowl, mix together the granola mixture, cranberries and cacao. Break up larger chunks of the granola. Then stir in the melted butter mixture and follow with the chopped chocolate. Stir to combine. Let cool a few minutes and serve.