Breakfast has long been my favorite meal of the day. I could eat breakfast foods as lunch, dinner, snacks, or for all 3 meals, if I'm being honest. But there's something about starting the morning off strong with something delicious and healthy to get your energy all revved up to tackle your day.

On Instagram, I am a sucker for a gorgeous photo of a creative breakfast bowl. When walking back from my early morning training sessions, I scroll through my Instagram feed and see all the amazing breakfasts created by some of my Instafriends from the other side of the world a few hours earlier. Which then just makes me in that much more of a hurry to run home and have a yummy breakfast of my own.

While I was in Zürich and met my friend Heike (@tastyasheck) for the first time in person, she introduced me to Nadja, of @mylifeisdelicious. I had found Nadja's feed a few weeks prior to meeting her, and I always was dazzled by her amazing breakfast dishes she shares every morning.

It was a chillier fall day in New York, when I saw she posted a photo of her Peanut Butter Chocolate granola, and I immediately was craving some warm chocolate granola with a morning coffee. I realized I had never made a chocolate granola before, so I used Nadja's recipe as inspiration to get me started! I made several tweaks with what ingredients I typically use, so this is my little spin-off version.

This chocolate peanut-butter coconut granola is gluten-free and vegan, and you can easily substitute or add in customized ingredients of whatever you have on hand to make your own version of it. The chocolate peanut-butter is a classic combination, but I threw in some coconut chips, flaxseeds, and pepitas to bump up the healthy fats and give it more of a crunch. Lately, I have also been loving quinoa in my granola, to add some healthy nutrients and a deliciously nutty crunch to it.

Chocolate Coconut Quinoa Granola | Living Minnaly02.jpg

Chocolate Coconut Quinoa Granola | Living Minnaly05.jpg

Chocolate Coconut Quinoa Granola | Living Minnaly04.jpg

Chocolate Peanut-Butter Coconut Granola

Gluten-free, Vegan

Ingredients

2 cups Raw Rolled Oats (GF certified if you need GF)
1/2 cup dry Quinoa, pre-rinsed
2 tbsp Flax Seeds
1 tbsp Chia Seeds
1/2 cup Pepita Seeds
1/2 cup Coconut Chips
1/4 cup Unsweetened Cacao Powder
1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted
1/4 cup Peanut Butter, melted (10-15 seconds in the microwave will do it!)
1/4 cup Maple Syrup, room temp (you can lessen quantity if trying to reduce sugar)
1-2 pinches of Salt (I used Himalayan Pink Salt)

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 315ºF, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients (oats, quinoa, flax seeds, chia seeds, pepita seeds, coconut chips, cacao powder, salt) with a spatula until well-mixed.

3. In a small mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients (coconut oil, peanut butter, and maple syrup) using either a whisk or a fork.

4. Drizzle wet ingredients over the dry ingredient mix in the large bowl, and use spatula to combine ingredients and mix thoroughly.

5. Spread out granola mixture in an even layer on the baking sheet. Bake for about 30 mins, turning mixture over once halfway through.

6. Remove baking sheet from oven, and let granola cool on the baking sheet. When cooled completely, store granola in an airtight container.

I love to eat my granola over some yogurt. You can also eat it as cereal in some nutmilk, or plainly as a snack!