Dark Chocolate Nutty Granola Bites

What can I say about my brother-in-law, Bill? Without pulling a lot of platitudes out of the hat? Yes, he’s the best brother you could ever wish for. Yes, as Annie says, “Everybody loves Bill.” He’s so kind and so bright and so humble. And he has this little mischievous streak that goes hand-in-hand with that little smile and twinkle in his eyes, usually followed by a wide-eyed, “Who? Me?” look and little chuckle.

It was his birthday a couple of weeks ago and he downplayed it. Spent the day eating… first at work with the sizable gang who admire and respect him and lovingly call him Mr. Bill, then with a small fraction of those who always enjoy being with him, including me and Novio.

What do I make him? Knowing him and knowing me, you know it’s going to be something edible. And probably something that includes chocolate… the darker, the better.

Annie always has  a bag of almonds for Bill in the pantry, but that bag tends to get parked right in the middle of the kitchen table.

Bill works very hard. When he is home and if you can’t find him, he’s probably holed up in the pantry, munching on raisins, or dried apricots or cherries. He likes dried fruit.

Cranberries work well too.

They can be a stunt double for dried sour cherries in a pinch. You didn’t hear this from me.

Another little known fact about Bill. He loves paper and pens. Give him a pen and he tries it out by writing in that sweet little precise engineer-type handwriting of his. What does he write?

“This is a nice pen.”

And then he sits back and contemplates it with a little smile and nod of his head.

Dark Chocolate Nutty Granola Bites

Ingredients:

Directions:

Have all ingredients ready to stir into melted chocolate.

Melt half the broken or chopped chocolate in a medium glass bowl at half-power for one minute. Stir quickly with a spoon. If it’s not thoroughly melted, microwave at half-power for another minute. Add remainder of chopped chocolate. Stir thoroughly until completely melted and smooth. If there are still a few lumps, microwave at half-power for a half-minute more and stir.

Add granola, almonds, dried fruit and pinch of salt to melted chocolate and stir thoroughly to combine.

Using 2 teaspoons, spoon about a teaspoon into mini muffin paper liners which are on a cookie sheet or place teaspoon-sized mounds directly on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet.

Place in freezer for 20 minutes to set.

Stores well in refrigerator or freezer.

NOTES:

No granola in the house? Toast 1 cup of old fashioned oatmeal (AKA rolled oats) and 1 cup of halved raw almonds in a pre-heated 350° oven for 8 minutes. Then proceed as directed.

For a great, healthy granola recipe, click here.

Chocolate Bites are inspired by a Passover favorite, Matzoh Farfel Nut Clusters, click here.

Makes about 20 pieces.

Pack them up and give them to someone you love.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Bill…

of course, here’s your really BIG gift…

… and nothing compares to U..