Chocolate Date Kale Granola

You know the kale obsession is real when I start working it into breakfast foods.

With my busy, chaotic life, I have been know to forget to feed myself. Which is really sad, considering I feed everyone else in my life! I can always throw together a pasta dish or roast some veggies for a quick meal, but days go by when I feel like I’m not getting enough greens. I always feel like I’m getting enough protein, I supplement with B12 every day, but greens? As much as I love them, sometimes I only sneak them in for the occasional smoothie and that’s about it.

So today-today I FINALLY had a day off! And it happened to be a Tuesday so there were no social opportunities or friend distractions to take me away from focusing solely on myself. And ALL I wanted to do was make kale dishes. I made three kale salads, worked on some desserts, and then decided I hadn’t had enough kale.

And thus, this granola was born.

I was massaging kale for another salad and was thinking about how massaging it with coconut oil would work out. I also found a great recipe here, that had a lot of similar aspects of other dessert recipes I already make, like a date coconut toppings and the nuts I usually use in regular granola. And I have to say, I was extremely pleased with the results! The dates and coconut have a big factor is flavor, so much so, that you barley notice the kale.

So now, I can have a proper dose of greens not only for a snack but for breakfast, too!

2 cups chopped lacinato kale

3 tbsp melted coconut oil

10 Medjool dates, pitted

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp raw cacao powder

1/4 cup chopped raw almonds

1/4 cup chopped raw walnuts

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup raw cashews

2 tbsp hemp seeds

3 tbsp vegan chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• Massage coconut oil into kale until tender
• In a food processor, blend together dates, water, cacao powder and shredded coconut until well pulsed
• Add almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, walnuts and hemp seeds to massaged kale
• Then, work in date coconut mixture until well combined
• Spread on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet and top with vegan chocolate chips
• Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, turning halfway through