Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew Granola Cups

“Believe that you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt 

Hello, and Happy Presidents Day to all of you fellow Americans!

How did you all spend your Valentine’s Day? My hubby and I decided to head to the beach to celebrate the occasion. He surfed while I caught up on a few magazines (more specifically, I dreamed up our next vacation while reading Islands, then read a Self issue with Cameron Diaz that has been sitting in my magazine rack for a year and a half), then we had a picnic and watched the sunset.

Noshing on good food with my hubby + perfect weather + a bottle of refreshing riesling + a beautiful sunset = the perfect low-key Valentine’s Day in my book.

Speaking of the beach, lately a bunch of you have asked me about the weather in the San Diego area this time of the year, so I wanted to take a moment to chat about it. Southern California is notorious for being mild and sunny most days. The weather here is different than other areas of the state. For instance, when I lived up in the San Fran Bay Area a bit inland, the weather had much more of a range. While the winter could dip into pretty chilly weather and the summer had many sweltering days in the 90s, in San Diego the temperature hovers around 65-80 degrees year round.

I couldn’t resist striking a yoga pose on the beach during this sunset!

So while it’s winter here, some of the days have been 60 degrees, but lately, it’s been more in the 70s, and we had a couple of days in a row here last week that hit in the 80s – which is why I’ve mentioned being in a bikini and on the beach a couple times lately. Sometimes here we get what’s called a marine layer – thick foggy clouds along the coast. Yesterday I was at the dog beach for about an hour. When we got there, it was perfectly sunny, but all of a sudden, this thick fog moved in, making it feel much chillier and damp. My hubby was surfing, and came out of the water because he said it was freaky and he could barely see in front of him. It happened so suddenly and was one of the craziest beach weather turn arounds that I’ve seen here!

I snapped the above photo when I got to the beach, and you can see the fog about to roll in from the water. A few minutes later, I couldn’t see that land in front of me at all!

I just wanted to touch on that because I know it’s kind of confusing to people that there aren’t really big seasons here. A lot of people enjoy having seasons, but I am not a fan of the cold or super hot and humid weather, so I definitely tend to enjoy 70, sunny and mild year round. Being able to do things outside all year long is one of the major reasons that I’ve living in southern Cali. 🙂

But anyways, moving onto food and today’s fun recipe!

Lately I’ve been obsessed with cashew butter – as in, I’ve been eating a bit of it pretty much every day. The cashew butter from Trader Joe’s is really smooth and creamy, making it the perfect topping to fruit or to add into my smoothies. 

I decided I needed to come up with a recipe containing cashew butter since I’ve been diggin’ it so much. And what goes better with cashew butter than dried cherries and dark chocolate chips? Ooooh, it’s the perfect combo.

Speaking of beloved foods, I also love granola in a major way… but the problem with it is that portion control kind of goes out the window. I look at granola labels and I think, a serving is 1/4 or 1/3 of a cup?? That’s like one handful! 
This is why I created these granola cups. Portion control is just kind of built in for you with this recipe. One granola cup = 1 serving of this sweet and salty snack, perfect for eating on-the-go or throwing into a plastic baggie as a bite for later on.

However, you do need to demonstrate some sort of willpower to not eat a bunch of these at a time. You may wind up eating 3 of these babies in one day like I did when I first made these (whoopsies). I got my act together after that first day, and these granola cups hung around for a week or so for my hubby to grab when he came home starving. I also dressed up a few yogurt bowls by topping it with a granola cup. 

Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew Granola Cups

Foodie Loves Fitness

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 5 mins

Total Time 15 mins

Servings 12

Calories 190 kcal

Ingredients

  

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• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 cups brown rice crisps cereal
• 2 TBSP chia seeds
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/4 cup cashew butter
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup cashew pieces
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 TSP vanilla extract
• 1 TSP cinnamon
• 1/4 TSP salt

Instructions

 

• Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cups.
• Combine the oats, brown rice crisps, chia seeds, cashew pieces, dried cherries, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Stir to combine evenly.
• Heat the maple syrup, cashew butter, honey and vanilla extract in a small pot over medium low heat. Stir often until the mixture is smooth and bubbly.
• Pour the cashew butter mixture over the dry mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon to combine evenly. Add in the chocolate chips, and stir to combine once again.
• Spoon the mixture evenly into each granola cup. Refrigerate for at least an hour before eating.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 190kcalCarbohydrates: 30gProtein: 3gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gFiber: 3gSugar: 15g

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Tell me.. What’d you do on Valentine’s Day? What’s your favorite kind of granola? Do you love cashew butter too??