Make our homemade Chocolate Granola, a perfect blend of crunchy, sweet, and healthy. Easy to make with pantry staples, it’s the ideal breakfast or snack for those who love a chocolatey treat with a nutritious twist.
Homemade Chocolate Granola
There’s something about breakfast food that captures our hearts, especially when it comes to cereals and crunchy granola. We love a bowl of it to kickstart the day and a late-night snack. But what takes center stage in our love affair with breakfast treats? Our homemade Chocolate Granola.
This delightful granola is a treat we’d happily have at any time of day. It can be mixed with a variety of dried fruits or even chocolate chips, and it works as a fantastic ice cream topping. Plus, it was initially crafted with love to persuade a certain breakfast-skipping, chocolate-loving family member to get their daily fiber intake. 😊
Why We Love This Recipe
This homemade Chocolate Granola recipe ticks all the boxes for a perfect breakfast or snack. It’s healthy, crunchy, chocolatey, and incredibly versatile. Moreover, it was born from a mission to make breakfast not just necessary but irresistible. Now, it’s a favorite treat that keeps us coming back for more. To add, store-bought granola can be high in fat, sugars, and calories. Price, too! Create your own so that you can control what goes in it, and how much.
Ingredients You Will Need
This granola recipe calls for simple, wholesome ingredients you likely have in your pantry already. You’ll need:
- old-fashioned rolled oats
- cocoa powder
- sliced almonds & chopped walnuts
- wheat germ
- ground cinnamon & salt
- water
- canola oil
- honey
- light brown sugar
- pure vanilla extract
How To Make Chocolate Granola
- Begin by preheating your oven and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix all your dry ingredients.
- Simultaneously, in a saucepan, stir together your water, oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla until it reaches a boil.
- Combine the two mixtures, ensuring the dry ingredients are well-coated with the sweet syrup.
- Spread it out on your baking sheet and let the oven work its magic.
Tips On Making Homemade Granola
While making granola is a relatively straightforward process, we have a few tips for the best results.
- Ensure you stir the mixture occasionally while it’s baking to achieve an evenly browned, crisp texture.
- If you prefer your granola on the crunchier side, let it bake a bit longer.
- Once out of the oven, break up any large clumps while it’s still warm.
Add-Ins & Variations
- Freeze Dried Berries: I like to add freeze-dried fruit to this chocolate granola! Raspberries and strawberries are my top picks because they complement the chocolate so well. If you’re feeling it, throw in about 1/2 to 1 cup of freeze-dried fruit after the granola cools down.
- Nuts & Seeds: Feel free to mix and match the nuts and seeds in this granola. Sometimes, I swap out the almonds for chopped pistachios. And let me tell you, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds work great too. If you’re feeling adventurous, try adding hemp seeds or chia seeds in place of ground flax seeds.
- Orange Zest: Add some orange zest to the cooled granola for a bit of bright, citrusy flavor.
Chocolate Granola
Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- ½ cup walnuts, chopped
- ½ tablespoon wheat germ
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dried fruits, optional
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 325˚F
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, cocoa powder, walnuts, almonds, wheat germ, ground cinnamon, salt, and dried fruit.
- In a small saucepan, add the water, oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla; bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Pour the honey mixture over the dry ingredients and toss together until all ingredients are coated.
- Spread onto the baking sheet and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally so the mixture browns evenly.
- For a crunchier granola, bake it for a few minutes longer; the browner the granola, the crunchier it will be.
- Place on a wire rack to cool.
- While the granola is still a bit warm, break up some of the larger clumps.
- Once the granola has cooled, store in an airtight container.
- Serve with milk, yogurt or even ice cream and some fruit.
- Keeps in an airtight container for weeks.
Notes
- Stir the mixture occasionally while it’s baking to achieve an evenly browned, crisp texture.
- If you prefer your granola on the crunchier side, let it bake a bit longer.
- Once out of the oven, break up any large clumps while it’s still warm.
- Store the granola in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
