Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bites

I’m generally of the belief that dessert is dessert. If a dessert is naturally light or healthy, that’s great, but if I want a chocolate chip cookie, I have a cookie. Of course, there are times when my sweet tooth only needs a little something and that something usually involves chocolate.

For those times when I only need a bite or two to be satisfied, it’s nice to have something like these granola bites on hand. They have that magical chocolate + peanut butter combo, but they also have other good (and good for you) stuff – oats, coconut and almonds. Having these around for a snack attack or a treat for the kids’ lunch boxes has been really nice. And, on the right kind of day, I certainly couldn’t blame you if you had a couple and called it breakfast.

Prep 20 minutes
Cook 5-10 minutes
Yield about 24-30 granola bites

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned oats
½ cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
1 cup roasted almonds
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup honey
¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup dark chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. coarse salt

Directions

01
Place the oats in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until ground into small pieces. Add in the coconut and almonds and continue to pulse until finely ground. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl.
02
In a medium saucepan, combine the peanut butter, honey, coconut oil, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips. Heat over medium heat until the mixture is smooth and the chocolate chips are completely melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt. Pour the mixture into the bowl with the oat mixture and stir together until well incorporated.
03
Scoop the mixture in 1½-2 tablespoon dollops onto a baking sheet. Let sit for a few minutes until slightly more firm and then roll into balls. Once the balls are formed, chill in the refrigerator until firmly set, about 1-2 hours.
04
*Notes:
- Quick cooking oats can be used in place of old fashioned – just skip the pulsing step because they are already more finely ground.
- If you prefer, you can enhance the coconut flavor by toasting the coconut and using regular (non-refined) coconut oil. If you want to dial down the coconut, skip the toasting and use refined coconut oil.
- If you have raw almonds, toast them lightly in a skillet to enhance the flavor.

Source

slightly adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe