Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Granola
Super simple and adaptable. Use your favorite sweetener, add-ins, and oil of choice. You can completely customize it to your own preferences and dietary needs. Not too sweet, unlike many store-bought brands that are packed full of sugar. Eggless. Unlike my other homemade granola recipe, egg whites are not necessary here. There is enough moisture from other ingredients to bind it together and make clusters, so an egg white simply isn’t necessary. Skipping the egg white also makes this a vegan recipe (so long as you use vegan chocolate chips!). Long shelf life. Your granola will stay fresh for weeks in an airtight container, or you can toss it in the freezer and enjoy it for months!
Some mornings call for indulgent breakfasts, and that’s when my chocolate pancakes or chocolate muffins hit the spot. Most days though, we reach for something that’s more nutritious but still satisfying and flavorful, like this chocolate granola sprinkled over Greek yogurt. Made with carefully selected ingredients like rolled oats, coconut oil, maple syrup (or honey!), and your favorite add-ins (we like nuts and seeds!), this is most certainly a mindful breakfast choice. Those of you with a sweet tooth (my people 💜), don’t turn back just yet–we are tossing in plenty of chocolate chips too! You’re going to love this one!
Ingredients
Keep in mind, this recipe is super versatile so most of these can be swapped out for something else. Let’s talk a bit about what you can (and absolutely cannot) substitute.
Oats. Like when making my apple crisp or oatmeal cookies, old-fashioned rolled oats are the way to go! Quick or instant oats will make your granola too crumbly and dry, so don’t substitute those. Cocoa powder. Natural cocoa powder adds the perfect chocolatey flavor. Dutch process cocoa will make for a darker color with a more intense taste. It certainly works, but isn’t my personal preference. Sweetener. I like to use honey (or pure maple syrup) and sugar. You can use whatever kind of sugar you like; granulated, coconut, turbinado, or brown sugar will all work here. Coconut. I know everyone isn’t a fan of the texture of coconut. It’s a small bit that I personally love, but you may omit this (just sub it with an extra spoonful of oats). Nuts. I love adding almonds and pecans, but you can use peanuts (if you’re a big chocolate peanut butter fan, add peanut butter chips too!), walnuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts, etc. Anything goes, so use your favorite! Oil. I add coconut oil, but you can use your favorite neutral oil. Avocado oil is another great choice. For those of you who don’t like the flavor of coconut, you will want to make sure you use a “refined” coconut oil, as “unrefined” has a coconut taste. Add-ins. We like chia seeds, cacao nibs, and flax seeds, but you can get creative with your add-ins. Dried fruit, additional nuts or seeds, different chocolate chips, etc. will all work.
SAM’S TIP: Use regular table salt for the oat mixture and save your flaky sea salt for topping the granola after it comes out of the oven. I love doing this with my sourdough chocolate chip cookies too! Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe with exact amounts and instructions please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Chocolate Granola
SAM’S TIP: Wait until the granola has COMPLETELY cooled before attempting to break it up into clumps, or you will 1) make a chocolatey mess and 2) create a much crumblier texture than expected. Chocolate granola should be crisp and cluster-y, so have patience! I’d love to hear how you customize your chocolate granola! Let me know in the comments below 🤎 Enjoy! Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
Related Recipes
