Chocolate Granola
This is the granola you make when life calls for chocolate for breakfast or for an afternoon snack. It is built on oats, a flour binder for real clusters and a full cooling rest, with a rich cocoa flavor.
Makes about 6 cups. Prep time: 10 minutes. Bake time: 24 to 28 minutes. Total time, including cooling: about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
What you need
- 3½ cups Nature's Path Old Fashioned Oats (Gluten-Free Old Fashioned Oats for a gluten-free batch)
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup Nature's Path All-Purpose Flour (or Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour), as a cluster binder
- 1 cup raw nuts, chopped, or a mix of nuts and chia seeds
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup melted coconut oil
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips or chunks, stirred in after cooling
- Optional: unsweetened coconut flakes, added with the dry ingredients
How to make it
- Preheat your oven to 325°F and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a big bowl, whisk together the oats, cocoa powder, flour, nuts and salt until the cocoa is evenly distributed through the dry mixture. This step matters with cocoa, since cocoa clumps if it isn't worked through the oats first.
- In a separate bowl or measuring cup, whisk the melted coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla together, then pour over the dry ingredients and stir until every oat is coated.
- Spread the mixture evenly across the pan, all the way to the edges, and press it down firmly with a spatula to compact it into an even layer.
- Bake for 24 to 28 minutes, stirring once at the halfway point. Each time you stir, press the granola firmly back down. Cocoa powder can make it harder to see when this is done by color alone, so judge doneness by smell and by how dry the surface looks rather than by browning.
- Pull the pan from the oven when the granola smells toasted and the surface looks matte rather than wet. It should feel a little soft still.
- Let the pan cool completely and undisturbed for at least 45 minutes. Do not add the chocolate chips yet. Adding them while the pan is still warm melts them into the granola instead of leaving distinct pieces.
- Once fully cool, break the granola into clusters by hand, then stir in the chocolate chips or chunks.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks, or freeze for up to three months.
Want it without baking?
If chocolate granola sounds good but you just don't have it in you for an oven project, Nature's Path already makes a full line of chocolate granola under the Love Crunch brand, including a dark chocolate and red berries version, the flagship flavor for our brand.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my chocolate granola smell burnt before it looks done? Cocoa powder can smell toasty well before the granola is actually finished baking. Rely on the surface looking matte and dry rather than on smell alone, and check at the 24-minute mark before assuming it's overdone.
Why add chocolate chips after baking instead of before? Chocolate chips added before baking melt completely into the granola rather than staying as distinct pieces. Stirring them in after the granola has fully cooled keeps them intact.
Can I make this granola gluten-free? Yes. Use Nature's Path Gluten-Free Old Fashioned Oats and Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour in place of the regular versions.
How long does chocolate granola last? Up to two weeks in an airtight container at room temperature, or up to three months in the freezer.
Sources cited
- Nature's Path Foods. Old Fashioned Oats nutrition and certification information. https://naturespath.com/products/old-fashioned-hot-oatmeal-np-us
About The Author
Linsey Herman
