Gluten Free Nutty Chocolate Granola w/ Chef in Disguise

This weekend is quite an exciting one. I am attending my first fashion show, and photographing as I represent Wealth in Wellness Magazine. I cannot put into words how thrilled I am about this gig. Things are falling into place and I am so grateful for the blessings that have surrounded Tim and I recently.

I feel emotionally overwhelmed to be under the wings of such inspirational and hard working people. Some who dedicate their lives to helping others, and some that have spent their entire lives working hard to achieve the dream they are living today. Living proof of suffering turned into success and anger towards the world turned into love for every living being.

It seems each day I dive deeper into photography, learn a new life lesson, meet a new friend to hug, love more passionately and smile more often. Wow, I guess I must really love the weekends ;)

Friday means a new guest post from one of my favorite food bloggers. Each food blogger I bring on here inspires me in one way or another. Sometimes, in a way I cannot put into words.

Sawsan is one of those people. Kind, humble, creative and so eager to spread her joy of baking and cooking with the world. Her creative recipes will make your jaw drop.

If you don't already follow her wildly popular food blog, Chef in Disguise, you will now. It is my honor to introduce Sawsan.

Hello everyone! My name is Sawsan and I am the author, cook, baker and photographer behind Chef in disguise. Living in Jordan, I enjoy mixing the healthy and diverse middle eastern cuisine with food from around the globe. Sort of mixing east and west in my kitchen attempting to get the best of both worlds. I share many traditional middle eastern, Levantine and arabic recipes along my takes on old and popular recipes.However, no journey is complete without a sense of adventure and I love trying out and exploring new ingredients, new recipes and new cuisines that is why I also share recipes from different cuisines, countries and origins.

Today's recipe is a gluten free and grain free granola. There are no oats in this recipe but I promise you will not miss them. I enjoy making granola at home, you can choose what to put into your granola, what flavors or nuts to add, you are sure there are no addettives or preservatives in it, it is cheaper than the store bought stuff and much tastier. So if you have never tried making granola at home I urge you to give it a go, it is really much easier than you think and once you taste it, trust me, you will never look back.

I know that going gluten free makes breakfast one of the trickiest meals. You miss the pancakes, waffles and regular cereal. I am here to tell you that you can be gluten free and enjoy your breakfast with this granola, it is crunchy, nutty and loaded with chocolate. Ticks all the boxes for a great start of the day if you ask me :)

This does not mean that you cannot enjoy this granola if you don't follow a gluten free diet. I am not on a GF diet and this granola has its own jar in my kitchen next to the homemade granola jar that I don't allow to stay empty for long

Gluten free, grain free nutty chocolate granola

• 2 cup almonds

• 1/2 cup raw walnuts

• ½ cup/40g unsweetened shredded coconut

• Pinch of salt

• ¼ cup honey

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup orange juice

• 3 Tablespoons almond butter or regular butter

• 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

• ½ tsp vanilla extract

• 2 Tablespoon flax seeds

• Chocolate, coarsely chopped (I usually use bittersweet chocolate but you can use any kind you enjoy)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 230 C

1. Place the almonds in the food processor and pulse until just coarsely chopped.

1. In a bowl whisk the almond butter,brown sugar, orange juice and honey untill the sugar dissolves and all is combined.

1. Add in the cocoa powder along with a pinch of salt and the vanilla and whisk to blend until well combined.

1. Add the chocolate mixture to the food processor and pulse to combine.

1. Add the flax seeds and the shredded coconut and pulse again until everything is combined.

1. Add the walnuts and give it one last breef pulse

1. Spread chocolate nut mixture evenly on a pan that you have lightly oiled or lined with parchment.

1. Bake at 230 degrees for about 2 hours, or until dry and crispy.(you need to gently stir the mix every 30 minutes to ensure it crisps evenly)

1. Cool on wire rack. Stir in chopped chocolate and store in airtight container.

Notes:
Soaking the nuts in water the night before making the granola removes the enzyme inhibitors, making them easier to digest

I usually make this granola using homemade peppermint almond chocolate butter and the almond meal left from making homemade almond milk but you can easily make it with regular butter and raw almonds.


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