Who doesn’t love granola. Crunchy, nutty, maple-y, spiced and a great way to start the day. It's nice as a snack too. Loose granola is fine for when you are at home, but what about when you are on the go? Here is a portable version of my roasted maple granola - chocolate chip granola bites.
Chocolate Chip Granola Bites
As I was handing zip bags of granola to friends to take on their flight home, I realized it would not be so easy to eat loose granola on an airplane. I needed to come up with an more transportable version that would work for when you want to carry it with you. I used my own granola recipe and baked them in a mini muffin pan for Chocolate chip granola bites. The perfect size to tuck into a handbag, briefcase, backpack or lunchbox.
Granola Bite Ingredient Tips
To make the granola bites, I added egg whites to make the mixture stick together. Instead of adding dried fruit (optional in my granola), I decided on chocolate chips as a treat. For chocolate chips, I used sugar-free chips made by Lily’s Sweets. They taste terrific. These are the same chips I used in the Forgotten Cookies recipe a few weeks ago.
As we eat gluten-free, I used gluten-free rolled oats as the base. For the coconut, use a fine, dry, coconut like Bob’s Red Mill Fine Macaroon Coconut. It’s unsweetened and unsulphured. For maple syrup, only use the real thing. Cinnamon is a natural as the warm spice flavor. For something a little different, try Chinese Five Spice, a warming, aromatic blend that includes cinnamon.
Tool Tips: How to Bake Granola Bites
To bake these you will need a mini muffin pan with 24 cups or wells. The one I use has wells 1 ¼″ deep and 2″ across measured on the inside. To get them out of the pan, one handy (and cheap) little tool I use a lot in the kitchen is a mini off-set spatula. Find them online, at cooking stores and restaurants supply stores.
Equipment
- mini muffin pan
Ingredients
Dry
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats 6 ounces, gluten-free
- ½ cup dry, fine, unsweetened coconut thread 1 ½ ounces
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts 1 ounce
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped slivered blanched almonds 1 ounce
- 2 tablespoons raw unsalted sunflower seeds
- 1 ½ tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 1 ½ tablespoons hemp seeds
- 3 tablespoons sugar-free dark chocolate chips Lilys Sweets
Wet
- ¼ cup real maple syrup
- ¼ cup unrefined coconut oil melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon or Chinese Five Spice
- 2 egg whites
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 325º. Spray a mini muffin pan (see post for notes). In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix the oats, coconut, nuts, and seeds. In another bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, oil, spice and egg whites. Pour the liquid into the dry mix and story until the dry mix is completely and evenly coated. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- In the sprayed mini muffin pan, pack approximately 2 tablespoons of the granola into each well. Tamp down firmly. Bake approximately 25 minutes (that is what it takes in my convection oven), until firm and the edges are just a light golden brown. Allow to cool completely in the pan, then pop out each bite with a mini spatula or thin knife.
Lisa George says
What can I use in place of the coconut and coconut oil?
Sally says
Hi Lisa, I would just skip the coconut and use a light neutral oil, maybe a grapeseed oil. Just be sure that it is not industrially made with chemicals. Do you have an allergy? If nuts are ok, you could use macadamia oil. That would be great flavor. You could add dried cranberries, but of course that will increase the overall sugar a bit.
Ordinary Blogger (Rivki Locker) says
That's brilliant! I love granola but it's definitely a messy food. Definitely going to try this recipe!