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Healthy Chocolate Granola

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This Healthy Chocolate Granola recipe is super-easy to make, naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup, and soooo chocolatey and delicious.

Healthy Chocolate Granola Recipe

Meet…your newest excuse to start the day with chocolate. 

This healthy chocolate granola recipe is here for you, friends. It’s perfectly rich and decadent and chocolatey, without being overly sweet. It crisps up nicely in the oven so that the texture is crispy and crunchy, and it can also be made to be as clustery as you might like. It’s naturally sweetened with your choice of honey or maple syrup, and can be tweaked to be both gluten-free and/or vegan. And most importantly, it is just ridiculously, irresistibly, fabulously good.

This recipe is also super flexible and easy to customize with whatever granola add-ins sound best to you. I realized that the version I photographed here had a bit of an unintentional Almond Joy vibe happening, with all of that delicious extra coconut, almonds and chocolate chips added in. (So good!!)  But if those aren’t your favorite ingredients, no worries, I have lots of other suggestions for you below.

Let’s make some chocolate granola!

Healthy Chocolate Granola Ingredients

Chocolate Granola Ingredients:

I’m guessing that most of these chocolate granola ingredients are probably already sitting in your pantry. You will need…

  • Old-fashioned oats: Also known as rolled oats. (Also, if you would like this recipe to be gluten-free, be sure to use certified GF oats.)
  • Nuts: I almost always use slivered almonds in my granola. But feel free to replace them with your favorite nuts or seeds (like pepitas or sunflower seeds).
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder: Because…chocolate. :)
  • Fine sea salt: To help bring out the flavor.
  • Melted coconut oil: Or your preferred kind of oil.
  • Maple syrup: Or honey.
  • Vanilla extract: For extra flavor.
  • Cocount: I like to use flaky coconut in my granola for fun texture, but shredded coconut would work too. Or if you’re not into coconut, no worries, just skip it altogether.
  • Semisweet chocolate chips: Or any kind of chopped up chocolate bars. I would note this the extra chocolate optional here, but I’m going to guess that everyone will be on board.

You will also need a mixing bowl, a large baking sheet (or two medium baking sheets) and parchment paper.

Healthy Chocolate Granola with Chocolate Chips

How To Make Granola:

Alright, let’s talk about how to make granola! Simply:

  1. Toss together (most of) the dry ingredients. Oats, almonds, cocoa powder, salt, that is. We’ll save the chocolate chips and coconut for later.
  2. Add the wet ingredients. Whisk together the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Then drizzle it over the dry ingredients and give everything a good toss until it’s evenly mixed. Spread the mixture out evenly on a large parchment-covered baking sheet.
  3. Bake. Let the mixture bake at 350°F for 20 minutes. Then remove from the oven and give the mixture a thorough stir.
  4. Add coconut. Then sprinkle the coconut evenly on top of the granola. (We’re doing this so that it’s just lightly toasted and doesn’t overcook.)  And pop the baking sheet back in the oven for another 5 minutes, keeping a close eye on the coconut so that it doesn’t burn. Then remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer it to a wire rack.
  5. Let the granola cool. Wait for about 20-30 minutes, or until the granola has completely cooled to room temperature.
  6. Add your mix-ins. Then finally, stir in the chocolate chips and/or any other mix-ins that you might prefer.
  7. Enjoy! You can either serve the granola right away. Or transfer it to a sealed container, and it should keep for up to 1 month.

Healthy Chocolate Granola

Possible Variations:

Want to mix things up with this chocolate granola recipe? Feel free to:

  • Add dried fruit: Dried berries, especially, would be delicious here.
  • Add peanut butter: Feel free to add 1/4 cup of peanut butter (just stir it in with the coconut oil mixture) if you would like.
  • Make it vegan: Just be sure to use dairy-free chocolate chips, such as these (affiliate link).
  • Omit the coconut: If coconut isn’t your thing, feel free to just skip it entirely.

Healthy Chocolate Granola with Chocolate Chips

More Granola Recipes:

Here are a few more of my favorite granola recipes:

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Healthy Chocolate Granola Recipe

The Best Healthy Chocolate Granola

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 18 reviews
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 0 About 6 cups 1x

Description

This Healthy Chocolate Granola recipe is super-easy to make, naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup, and soooo chocolatey and delicious.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 cups old-fashioned oats*
  • 1 cup slivered almonds (or your preferred nuts)
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened flaked coconut (or 1/2 cup shredded coconut)
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 350°F.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together oats, almonds, cocoa powder and sea salt until evenly combined.
  3. In a separate mixing cup, stir together the melted coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract until combined.  Pour the coconut oil mixture into the oats mixture, and stir until evenly combined.
  4. Spread the granola out evenly on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through.  Then remove from the oven, give the mixture a good stir, then sprinkle the coconut evenly on top.  Bake for 5 more minutes, until the granola is lightly toasted and golden.
  5. Remove baking sheet from the oven and transfer to a wire baking rack.  Let cool until the granola reaches room temperature.  Then stir in the chocolate chips and/or any other add-ins that you prefer.
  6. Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

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32 comments on “Healthy Chocolate Granola”

  1. I love using hazelnuts in chocolate granola but I’ll give almonds a try. Thanks!

  2. love it..it has chocolate!!
    for those of us with nut allergies, any suggestions??

    • @Deb I used pepitas and sunflower seeds and it was amazing! Thanks Ali for another amazing healthy recipe! When I look for healthy recipes that still taste delicious I always come to your site :)

  3. Next time I make chocolate granola, I’ll have to try this recipe in place of the one I’ve been using. This one seems a bit simpler. I may sub walnuts for the almonds, since I use almonds in my other granola that I keep on hand all the time and the muesli I made recently. A little variety can be good.

  4. This looks like such a decadent breakfast treat. I love making granola at home yet I rarely do it. Gonna try this one out!

    • This is my go to recipe! I use honey since that’s what I have, and I like to add some chia and flax seeds, plus shredded coconut. 🥰🤤






  5. This chocolate granola looks so good, I am gonna try it becuase I love black chocolate, crunchy feeling and it has to be so tasty.

  6. Absolutely delicious! Thank you!






    • This was soooooo good! I left out the nuts and flaked coconut and replaced the coconut oil with extra virgin olive oil. Loved the chocolate flavor and crunchy-but-not-overly-so texture. I have already made this twice, totally recommend it!






    • Thank you for sharing this recipe. I absolutely love it! I sub avocado oil and had to reduce baking time by a few minutes because it got too toasty the first time.

  7. This is probably the best recipe I’ve ever found on this blog (and I have several other favorites). I am absolutely addicted to this granola. Love it.

  8. Wow!! I’m glad I decided to look for a chocolate granola recipe today. I was looking at the suggestions for add ins. I recently purchased some powdered peanut butter. I think that would be great to use for added flavor without adding more fat, which would be omega 6. I will have to do a search on how to measure the powdered peanut butter compared to actual peanut butter. You say ¼ cup. Maybe half that amount in the powdered. 2 Tbsp. I think that might be good for starters. I always make notes on original recipes if I think of something to add. Thank you for your “gift” to love cooking, but especially to create! I will need to come back to leave a message on how I did.

  9. This is my go-to chocolate granola recipe. I can’t make enough of it and it causes arguments as we all fight over it! I often use pecans or walnuts instead of almonds and add a touch of cinnamon. Also, I don’t stir it at all during baking as we like big clusters,but other than that, I always stick faithfully to it!

    Thanks for posting x






  10. I love this granola so much and have made it soooo many times. There is pretty much always a container of it at my house. Thank you so much for the recipe!






  11. I love this granola recipe. Instead of waiting for the granola to cool, I added semi sweet dark chocolate chips immediately after removing from the oven and mixed thoroughly. The chocolate evenly coated the granola while it melted. The result provided the perfect amount of chocolate flavor with each bite.

  12. I used Rice Krispies cereal cause school has no nut policy, it’s just extra crunch. And then we added some dark chocolate nibs. This recipe is so great on my vanilla yogurt with some sliced strawberry or banana. Thank you!

  13. Tastes great, really love all the ingredients in here. You can add practically anything you like after the cooking stage to jazz it up but also tastes delicious on its own.
    Only thing I would advise is that my first batch burnt during the cooking process so I would say anywhere between 12-20 minutes, just keep an eye on it and take it out when it starts to smell like cookies to avoid over baking






  14. I had the same problem as another commenter with it burning after 20 min. Next time I will turn down the temp and/or lower the baking time.

  15. Made this today and my kids and I loved it! I added 1/4 cup hemp hearts, and used a mix of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds instead of nuts. Will definitely make this again, next time with cashews, dried cherries and coconut! Thanks for the recipe!

  16. I made this recipe after years of making plain granola! And let me just say there is nothing better than eating something that tastes like a chocolate cookie for breakfast! I made mine with honey instead of maple syrup and it was really tasty! I 10/10 recommend this recipe to you! Not only is it good but good for you it’s full of fiber and nutrients! I even added some chia seeds to it to add some extra Omega-3 ! Thank you for a wonderful recipe!






  17. This looks so good! Can’t wait to make it :)






  18. Just made this and it’s AMAZING!!! I’m off white sugar to keep my blood sugar down before my baby comes (natural sugars don’t seem to affect it), so this recipe looked promising. Boy, did it knock my expectations out of the park!! You literally don’t even need the chocolate chips! We baked it at 300 for about an hour since we burned the PB batch, and although it came out of the oven a little chewy still, it crisped right up! We’d pressed it into the pan and didn’t stir much so it’s also super clumpy, our favorite!! Thanks Ali!!






  19. I love this granola! I make it every few weeks as a topping to greek yogurt.






  20. Life changed. Why have I never made granola before?! This is SO delicious. Made mine with pumpkin seeds and pecans. Amaaaazing. Thank you!






  21. This is by far the most delicious homemade granola I’ve ever made, and I’ve made quite a few. This is our go to for chocolate granola and loved by family and friends! I just finished making a fresh batch and it didn’t completely cool before bowls and spoons were in hands! I was wondering if there is any nutritional information for this recipe. Anyway, thank you for sharing this deliciously healthy chocolate recipe!!






  22. I really had mediocre hopes for this. It just looked too simple, I guess?? But it’s DELICIOUS! I will be making more of this tomorrow because this batch will NOT last long…I omitted the nuts and increased the oats to compensate. Mine was done at about 18 mins.






  23. Love it but would like to know the nutritional value please






  24. Very interesting blog. I would definitely recommend this to my family and friends. I have been using Dark Chocolate Granola from True Elements – a clean label food brand as a breakfast option and they are really tasty and healthy. Thank you.






  25. I love this recipe! My breakfast favorite with vanilla yogurt!






  26. This looks so good and I have it printed out to make, but for those of us who can’t have any sugar (I have to keep under 5g in a serving), can we sub something for the honey/agave?

  27. I’d love to know the nutritional value of this. Am I missing it on the website. Love this recipe sooooo much. Have been making it for years now.






  28. I love it, too! I would also like to know if you have already figured up the nutritional value. :) Thanks for sharing the recipe!