Chocolate with Francois: Yogurt Parfaits, Chocolate Granola and Bananas

I’ve made a lot of granola but I’ve never added mini chocolate chips.  This is a classic Francois Payard treat from his book Chocolate Epiphany.  Francois says this makes a wonderful quick weekday breakfast.  I think it’s more like a wonderful dessert that Ted and I could eat over and over again.  Not difficult at all and very accommodating to make in part ahead of time.

The group Chocolate with Francois featured this recipe and it was chosen by Julie of Little Bit of Everything.  Terrific pick! So good!  This ones going to be a “repeat offender” on our table.

This is how I made the recipe, but check out Julies site for Francois’ version.

Makes a big bag of granola for future use.  The recipe below, yogurt and bananas is enough for two to three.

Granola

• 1 cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 2/3 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 TBS brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 TBS Cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup raisins

The Yogurt

• 16 oz Vanilla, Zero Fat, Greek Style yogurt
• grated zest from 1/2 an orange

The Bananas

• 2 medium bananas: peel and slice into 1/4 inch slices, saving 2 longer lengths for garnish
• 1 TBS brown sugar
• 2 TBS SmartBalance Healthy spread

Begin with the granola which you can store in a bag or container for 1 week on the counter, 2 weeks in the fridge and about a month or two in the freezer.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with non-stick foil or parchment.

In a large bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients (oats to honey).  Mix well. Spread on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Do NOT stir during baking. Allow to cool completely.

In a large bowl, add the chips, raisins, and honey. Now add the cooled oats and mix it all together really well. Store tightly sealed.

For the yogurt, simply stir in your grated peel to the yogurt. Keep refrigerated until ready to assemble the parfaits.

The bananas:  Heat a large skillet over medium – high heat. Let the SmartBalance melt then stir in the brown sugar.  Add the banana slices and cook for 1 to 2 minutes just until they get a little color.

ASSEMBLE:   Put some banana slices in the bottom of a tall glass.  Add some yogurt and top with granola.

ENJOY!

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