Make the best crunchy chocolaty homemade granola. A perfect breakfast cereal, dessert or snack!
Since we started making granola, its been a huge game changer. Homemade granola is so easy and delicious, plus, it's so much more affordable than buying it prepackaged! Coming up with different combinations and flavors is part of the fun, and once you understand the consistency, you can start making these without any measuring! You will eventually be making your own flavored cereals! How cool! This homemade chocolate granola will make your home smell sooo good, and it will also help heat up your home during those colder days.
Why you'll love this recipe for chocolate granola
- Smell: Any granola will just make your home smell so warm and cozy.
- Taste: If you love chocolate cereal but dislike how sugary store bought brands can be, well this is your recipe. It taste almost like chocolate rice krispies! We also love how it makes our soy milk so chocolatey like our childhood cereals always did.
- Texture: The texture is very nice and crunchy, and wont get soggy.
- Warmth: Baking granola during the winter months is the best! You'll not only get a delicious scent, but the oven will add some extra heat to warm you up on those cold days.
- Affordable: Making homemade granola is way less expensive than store bought brands.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Old fashioned rolled oats: These will be the crunchiest. Quick oats get mushy in liquid.
- Nuts: We used a mix of walnuts and almonds, but any nuts would be fine.
- Seeds: We used pepitas, but feel free to use chia, flax, sunflower, hemp, or your seed of choice.
Cooking tips
- Once the granola is out of the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes in order for them to get fully crunchy.
- Add the chocolate chips or chunks once the granola has cooled to avoid them fully melting.
How to Store
Store in an airtight container for a week or so in your pantry. Honestly, this never lasts more than a few days in our home, but granola does tend to last a while. Just remember to use your sense of sight, smell, and taste when deciding if food has spoiled or not. This recipe also fits perfectly in one of the large Aldi nut containers - we love that.
How to serve/ Pairing suggestions
We typically enjoy granola with soy milk for breakfast, try it paired with a Pumpkin Spice Latte or our delicious Maca Snickerdoodle Smoothie. We love granola so much we also enjoy it as a dessert or snack. Use it over yogurt, a smoothie bowl, or enjoy directly out of the jar!
Other Homemade Granola Recipe Variations
Tips for Customization
Once you learn how to get the right consistency, you can basically customize to your liking. Use flavors you enjoy, add nuts, seeds, dried fruits, protein powder, nut butters, coconut flakes, the possibilities are endless!
We hope you enjoy this recipe. Remember, every step you take towards a plant-based lifestyle is something to be proud of.
Whether you're vegan, trying to eat more plant-based meals, or just here for a delicious recipe -
thank you for being part of the journey with us!
Equipment
- 1 Baking Sheet
- 1 parchment paper
- 1 mixing bowl large
- 1 silicon spatula
Ingredients
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup nuts* roughly chopped
- ¼ cup seeds** chia, pepitas, sunflower, hemp, flax
- ¼ cup chocolate chips or chunks
Wet Mixture
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 °F
- In a large bowl combine the cocoa powder, maple syrup, coconut oil, molasses, vanilla extract, salt.
- Add the oats, nuts, and seeds to the wet mixture and stir to thoroughly coat.
- Evenly spread the granola on a large baking sheet with parchment paper, making sure to press down on the oats.
- Bake for 30 minutes. After 15 minutes of baking, remove from oven, flip with a spatula, and continue baking for 15 minutes or until granola is light brown and mostly dry. Let it cool out of the oven for 10 minutes. This allows the granola to fully cool and crisp-up.
- Let it cool completely before combining chocolate chips or chunks. Store in an airtight container in your pantry.
