Gluten Free Almond Joy Granola |Cooking With Amanda

I'm not actually a fan of Almond Joy candy bars, but I do love the coconut, chocolate and almond combination! I thought about making a cake with those flavors but after the holidays, I'm just not in the mood for baking anything too complicated. And so this Almond Joy granola was born!

In addition to chopped almonds, this granola has a generous amount of almond extract, which I just can't get enough of these days. I'm putting it into everything that has berries, chocolate or maple, like these almond butter maple cookies.

While the granola was baking, my husband asked me if I was making marzipan granola. The almond flavor definitely isn't subtle here! But that's fine because I don't like subtle. If you're not big on almond extract, you can sub coconut extract or add in more vanilla extract.

I started adding shredded coconut to the granola when I remembered that I had some roasted coconut chips that I bought at Trader Joe's 2 1/2 years ago. I'd been saving them for something special and finally found the perfect use for them in this granola! Never mind that they expired in 2014.

This granola is unlike any other granola you've ever had. It's probably a bit of a lie to even call it granola. It's more like candy with oats in it that just happens to be prepared the same way granola is. I don't eat it over yogurt or with milk – I just snack on it. Can you see the size of those clusters?!

The almond extract makes it completely irresistible, at least to me. I made the granola three days before taking the pictures and you wouldn't believe how difficult it was to reserve at least a cup for the photo shoot. My husband had to hide it from me after it was clear I was not to be trusted with the granola. Seriously. Make this!

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Gluten Free Almond Joy Granola Recipe

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Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut oil, 112 grams
3/4 cup honey, 240 grams
1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa, or hershey's special dark cocoa powder, 58 grams
1/4 cup coconut sugar, or granulated sugar, 50 grams
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
4 1/2 cups rolled oats, use certified gluten-free oats if needed, 440 grams
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, chopped, use dairy-free chocolate chips if needed, 90 grams
1/2 cup chopped almonds, 55 grams
1/2 cup roasted coconut chips, 40 grams

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
In a large saucepan, melt the coconut oil. Stir in the honey, cocoa powder, sugar and salt and bring to a simmer. Depending on the type of honey you use, it may take 2-3 minutes of stirring for the mixture to come together well.
Remove from the heat and add in the vanilla and almond extract.
Working quickly, add in the oats and make sure to evenly coat them with the chocolate mixture.
Spread the mixture evenly over the prepared baking tray.
Bake for 15 minutes, stirring after every 5 minutes.
Remove the tray from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. It should harden a little during that time. Stir in the chocolate chips and make sure that the granola is well coated in the melted chocolate.
Let the granola cool completely, about 2 hours, and then stir in the chopped almonds and coconut chips.
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.