It’s Friday, and you know what that means…chocolate raspberry smoothie bowl time.

Chocolate raspberry is one of my all-time favorite combos. It all started about 10 years ago, when I had chocolate raspberry ice cream for the first time. “Whoa,” I remember thinking. “Is this real?”

Lucky for me, it is. I was trying to decide what kind of smoothie bowl to make this morning, and originally I was going to go with chocolate peanut butter. But then I thought I would add some raspberries into the mix.

I also decided to make some chocolate granola to go on top, because why not? I think that granola is one of those things that people shy away from making, because it seems really labor intensive. But it is actually one of the easiest things to make. You just need patience.

You throw some rolled oats on an ungreased pan, mix in some nuts, sweetener and spices, and then put it in the oven to bake for an hour. During that time, you can stare at your new haircut in the mirror, send snapchats, read a book…the options are nearly endless.

I let my granola sit and cool in the pan overnight, because I wanted the chocolate chips on top to harden up a little before I broke up the mixture and put it in a jar. But you can also put it in a plastic bag or jar after it bakes, as long as you let it cool for about an hour first.

This bowl was so good to wake up to. It’s hard to get out of bed on Fridays but this chocolate, raspberry, granola combo made it worth it. Oh, and the sea salt in the granola…that also took it up a notch.

Here’s one of my latest song obsessions. I listened to it as I was taking a long walk around D.C. the other night.

Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie Bowl with Chocolate Granola (bowl from me, and granola recipe slightly adapted from Pinch of Yum)

Ingredients

For the bowl:
1/2 cup raspberries
1/4 cup unsweetened cacao powder
1/4 cup almond butter
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup lowfat yogut
1 tbsp maple syrup
raspberries, flake coconut, granola for topping

For the granola:
3 cups rolled oats
1¼ cups sliced raw almonds
¾ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
½ cup cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup melted coconut oil (measured in liquid form)
⅓ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1½ cups chocolate chips
sea salt for finishing

Directions

Make the granola the night before, or in advance of the bowl. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Toss the oats, almonds, coconut, cocoa, and salt in a large sheet cake pan. Whisk together the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Bake for 50 minutes total, stopping about halfway through to check the granola and shake or stir the pan if needed. After 50 minutes, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the granola, return to the oven for 5-10 minutes until chocolate chips are very soft. Sprinkle with the remaining coarse sea salt to taste. The added salt should stick the outside of the chocolate chips. O.M.G.

Let the granola stand for 1-2 hours. Gently scoop the granola into jars or an airtight container, jar or plastic bag for storing. You can also leave the granola out overnight or for several hours until the chocolate chips are fully cooled and hardened if you want to preserve the shape of the individual chocolate chip pieces in the granola.

To make the bowl, blend the raspberries, unsweetened cacao powder, almond butter, almond milk, yogurt and maple syrup in a blender until smooth. Top with some granola, flake coconut and raspberries. Enjoy!