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This chocolate granola is healthy, chocolaty, and crunchy- not just your regular breakfast-next-bowl! It uses simple ingredients and makes a wholesome breakfast!
Why you’ll love this chocolate granola recipe
- No complicated ingredients. Don’t you love when you don’t need to run to the store when trying out a new recipe? You need only five simple ingredients to make this homemade chocolate granola. And there’s a good chance you already have most of the required elements.
- Crunchy and delicious. The most satisfying thing about any cereal is its crunch- especially granola. And when you make it with nuts, peanut butter, and chocolate chips, it is like having dessert for breakfast.
- Plant-based. Like protein granola, this recipe has no dairy or eggs, so it’s suitable for vegans and vegetarians.
- Versatile. Another thing that I love about this recipe is that you can enjoy it with milk or use it as a topping for your ice cream, overnight oats, porridge, or smoothie bowls.
Ingredients (and substitutions)
While oats form the base of this recipe, what makes the recipe work is the ratio of oats to peanut butter to maple syrup. Let’s see what you need:
- Oats. Granola is all about nailing the texture, and one way to achieve that is by using two different kinds of oats. I have used a combination of rolled and quick oats.
- Salt. It helps enhance the sweet flavors. Don’t omit it!
- Nuts. This is where you can get creative. Mix your favorite chopped nuts in the recipe—almonds, pistachios, peanuts, pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, etc.
- Chocolate peanut butter. A simple mix of peanut butter and cocoa powder. If you can’t find this in stores, standard peanut butter will work. Not a fan of peanuts? No worries! You can try using chocolate almond butter instead. Or try my healthy Nutella for a Nutella-flavored granola!
- Maple syrup. Not only does this add some sweetness to the granola, but it also helps form clusters too. You can use honey or agave nectar if you’d prefer.
- Chocolate chips. What makes this chocolate granola recipe truly stand out is that instead of using cocoa powder, we mix real chocolate into the hot granola. I like to use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but dark, milk, or even white work.
How to make chocolate granola
This recipe’s trickiest part is getting the perfect crunch. Like crunchy biscotti and peanut butter cookies, you want the crispy bits with every bite. And while the oven takes care of baking everything perfectly, follow the steps carefully to get the perfect granola every single time!
- Mix the dry ingredients. Mix oats, salt, and nuts in a large mixing bowl.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Melt peanut butter with maple syrup in a microwave until it bubbles.
- Make the granola mix. Combine the dry and wet mixes until fully incorporated, and layer on a baking tray.
- Bake the granola. Bake the granola mix at 180°C/350°F in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Mix in the chocolate chips, and bake until golden brown.
- Store until later use. Remove the baked granola, allow it to cool down to room temperature, break the large chunks, and store them in an airtight container until further use.
Flavor variations
- Add seeds. Omega-3 fatty acids are so good for you! Mix ground flax seeds in your granola mix to add them to your diet. Alternatively, you could add pumpkin, sunflower, or chia seeds (we often do this in our peanut butter granola recipe).
- Make it gluten-free. Even if you’re allergic to gluten, you can still enjoy these decadent chocolate granola! Just use certified gluten-free oats instead.
- Make it coconutty. The coconut-chocolate combination is a forever classic! All you need to do is add unsweetened shredded coconut or coconut flakes to the granola mix. Add vanilla extract. Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the granola mix. If you love the choco-vanilla combo, I’m sure you’ll like this variation.
- Add dried fruits. I love raisins, goji berries, or dried cranberries in this granola. It makes a delicious addition!
What to serve with chocolate granola
I love my day a little better when it begins and ends with chocolate! To enjoy it better, use the following serving recommendations.
- Yogurt. Mix this granola with your favorite neutral or vanilla yogurt for a healthy, wholesome breakfast. Finish with antioxidant-rich berries, and enjoy!
- Milk. Stir in the chocolate granola with your preferred dairy or plant-based milk for a quick breakfast, and enjoy it cold or warm. I love to top it with fresh fruits, berries, and seeds.
- Smoothie bowl. Whether it’s a coconut chia pudding, or a yummy smoothie, in my opinion, it is incomplete without a generous sprinkle of granola.
Storage instructions
To store. Granola keeps well at room temperature in a sealed container for one month.
To freeze. I suggest storing it in the freezer for more extended storage for three months.
Recommended tools to make this recipe
- Mixing bowls. These large and medium-sized mixing bowls always come in handy when making recipes like this.
- Baking tray. This baking sheet will be your best friend when making granola, cookies, or macarons!
- Spatula. Just like you would fold the cookie dough, mix the dry and mix ingredients using a spatula. It makes life so easy!
Recipe tips and tricks
- Melt the nut butter with maple syrup. This step ensures you get nice chunks of granola to bake. It brings the mixture to a perfect workable consistency.
- Use sea salt. While regular table salt works just fine, I encourage you to use flaky sea salt in the recipe. It really enhances the overall flavor of the cereal.
- Don’t skip the nut butter. Many healthy recipes online use mashed banana or applesauce instead of nut butter or coconut oil. Let me tell you a little secret! If you want crispy and crunchy granola, you need a fat component! Olive oil or butter works, but a nut/seed butter will add an extra layer of flavor.
- Let the granola cool. You may want to try the granola fresh out of the oven. But hold your horses! The natural sugars in granola will harden as it cools down, and the granola will form the quintessential chunks.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use honey to sweeten my granola?
Well, I have yet to try this recipe with honey. But because honey tends to retain moisture, I am a little wary about using it to make granola.
What can you use instead of nut butter?
If you’re allergic to nuts, you can use tahini or sunflower seed butter instead.
Can I prepare granola mix in a food processor?
You can pulse the wet and dry ingredients in a food processor to quickly mix them. Don’t blend at high speed to avoid making granola butter.
Chocolate Granola
This chocolate granola is healthy, chocolaty, and crunchy- not just your regular breakfast-next-bowl! It uses simple ingredients and makes a wholesome breakfast!
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup nuts I used salted peanuts
- 3/4 cup peanut butter can use any smooth nut or seed butter of choice
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the rolled oats, quick oats, salt and nuts of choice.
- In a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl, heat the peanut butter with the maple syrup until it just begins to bubble. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and combine until fully incorporated.
- Spread out the granola mixture evenly on the lined oven tray and bake for 10-12 minutes (depending on the oven) until the edges start to go slightly golden. Remove from the oven and stir through the chocolate chips. Place back in the oven and continue to bake until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and stir through remaining chocolate and allow to cool completely. Once cooked, break up the granola and store in an airtight container.
Notes
TO STORE. Granola keeps well at room temperature in a sealed container for one month.
TO FREEZE. I suggest storing it in the freezer for more extended storage for three months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1servingCalories: 150kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 8gFat: 7gPotassium: 3mgFiber: 4gVitamin A: 150IUVitamin C: 2.5mgCalcium: 30mgIron: 0.5mgNET CARBS: 14g
Tried this recipe?Give us a shout at @thebigmansworld or tag #thebigmansworld!
More ways to have chocolate for breakfast
Pancakes and Waffles
Chocolate Pancakes
Oatmeal and Overnight Oats
Protein Chia Pudding
Oatmeal and Overnight Oats
Chocolate Baked Oats
Pancakes and Waffles
Obviously I’m known for crackers and hummus…more like eating it, not making it. Considering dark chocolate is my second favorite food (we know the first), this is being made ASAP. Drool!
Do it, my crest beauty.
Granola Bars!! I am so jealous of you guys who actually can buy good granola bars. The ones here are filled with crab – a no go.
BUT my genius kangaroo made a granola recipe that calls my name – how much more do I love you because you added LINDT chocolate!! . Now you just have to send over 64378267832 jars of that Dark Chocolate Super Spread. Geeeeez, I want to lick my screen. Stop making these recipes or you will have to take over the task and cleaning my Laptop.
Um….our granola bars are terrible- wait until you come. Actually, I’m probably digging a hole now and when you come, they will be magical.
I MAY have a cheeky giveaway soon involving them!
Wooowza all you needed to say was dark chocolate and you had me, but then you said granola and now I’m wishing I wasn’t on a cleanse this week. This looks like crack!
We don’t use the word crack on this parts of the world.
….say crack again.
I think I might actually be granola bar girl…I currently have one in my purse and another in my desk. Any granola with chocolate sounds delicious to me!
You are NOT the granola girl. Don’t put the Wine God’s to shame.
No surprise here that the best granola bars were the ones with chocolate in them. I mean, everything is better with chocolate, right ;)?
This looks great! I love granola on everything. Oatmeal, yogurt bowls, the list goes on and on.
Granola is like the health food icing on ….. everything.
I am known for my balls OBVIOUSLY. How am I supposed to trust that this is the best granola. Who is giving you advice on these ridiculous SEO-friendly names? She must be a whore…
That, she is. My favourite kind.
What snack would I be known for? Do I need to answer that question? 😉 I have tried making homemade bars a couple of times, and mine just fall apart, I should just stop trying to make granola bars and stick with plain granola! Great idea!
I like that mindset- failed granola bars = perfect granola. Do it. Do it real good.
I can’t even remember the last time I had a granola bar, but I would definitely be down for one with chocolate AND peanut butter. Nom!
Australia just brought out a range of chocolate and peanut butter ones….the proportion of peanut butter to oats was like 1:100000000000000.
This granola looks UNREAL. Anything with chocolate is a big winer in my books!!! I always had healthy snacks as a kid and was so jealous of people whose parents packed them candy and cookies for snacks.
Vega snack bars are my current fav at the moment 🙂
Thanks Christina- I’ve never tried a Vega bar but must admit, their vanilla shake is pretty epic in oatmeal.
I can’t say I’m known for any specific snack other than I always have one haha. I like to try all the granola bars in the organic section at my local grocery store but I’d have to say Clif Bars are always going to be my first love. I will try anything as long as it has natural ingradients and is minimally processed, but Clif Bars were my first love and I will never whore myself out to another brand :-X
I was shocked when I got clif bars in America- I thought they were all natural but they were quite processed! But delicious…Very delicious.
I like the company philosophy though
Chocolate granola sounds amazing! I love making my own! It’s so easy and at least you know exactly what is going into it. And, I love that hint of chocolate – you can never go wrong there!
Definitely cannot go wrong there- after making my own, buying it is just criminal.
I’m with Lauren — granola NEEDS to have chocolate in it. So does trail mix. And oatmeal. And cookies. And cake. And… well… pretty much everything 😛 Ice cream too, but only if we’re talking chips or chunks — chocolate ice cream is a cruel imposter. As for what shack I was known for… in school it was Skittles. I had one of those red baggies with me almost every day, so I guess people got used to seeing me with one. Then came a day where I ate too many of them in one sitting, made myself sick, and went cold turkey for a few years.
Chocolate ice cream is an insult- INSULT. Hear this- the best gelato I ever had in Italy was Sachertorte- Which was a German Dark chocolate cake and it legit had cake pieces in it. THAT was not an insult.
Skittles? More reason for Niki to love you.
I’m pretty sure it’s been a few years since I made granola…but I did always make chocolate and peanut butter 😉 Can’t beat that flavour combo!
I feel like in elementary school, I would have been known for chocolate pudding cups (every damn day) and when I was older, chocolate-covered granola bars (usually twice a day…)
Twice a day? That’s inspirational. I remember playing swapsies for the good stuff with naive little kids.
Mmm this looks awesome! I love almond butter or soy nut butter and chocolate together!
I probably would have been known for my turkey sandwiches. I ate them pretty much every day from grade 4 til grade 12 haha.
I wish I had turkey sandwiches every day! Ironically, my mum would make almond butter and nutella sandwiches and I’d be like ewww. Her mindset? Nutella needed the AB to offset the sweetness.
Hhahah you are a stalker for sure. Also I have a granola recipe that I’ve delayed posting because I’m not obsessed with the pics but the recipe is pretty similar to yours so please don’t think I am stalking you. <<felt the need to provide a disclaimer! Although in my defense and yours, I think most granola recipes are fairly similar.
I know your a copycat blogger, Ez. I’m going to report you to the blogging police.
😉