Hmm… I’m not doing a very good job convincing you that I’m not a chocolate person, am I. Well, this granola is the shiznit, even for a non-chocolate person like myself.
Granola uses sugar and oil to bind everything together, so it’s fairly caloric by nature. Because of that, I didn’t need to add any extra sugar or fat to turn my regular granola recipe into a chocolaty delight. I decided to cut my imminent snacking rampage short by making a small batch… because if I have granola in my vicinity, I can’t stop. If regular granola is highly addictive, this chocolate granola is even more so. Be warned: it’s dangerously delicious.
It’s super chocolaty, not too sweet, and has lots of yummy coconut and almonds in it. And did you see my price? Yeah, how much is that teensy-weensy bag of chocolate granola cereal at the store? $5? Ha! Knowledge is power. Use it wisely.
Remember how your Chocolate Pebbles and Coco Puffs cereal used to turn your milk into chocolate milk when you were a kid? This granola does that, too. Value added!
Want a low sugar, low fat granola-essque breakfast? Try muesli! It’s one of my favorites!
Choco-coconut Granola
Servings 4Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats ($0.42)
- 1/3 cup shredded coconut ($0.26)
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds ($0.37)
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil ($0.06)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar ($0.08)
- 2 Tbsp honey ($0.15)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract ($0.03)
- 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder ($0.12)
- 2 Tbsp water ($0.00)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the dry rolled oats, shredded coconut, and sliced almonds.
- In a small pot, combine the oil, brown sugar, honey, salt, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, and water. Heat over a medium-low flame and stir until the sugar is dissolved (about 5 minutes).
- Pour the chocolate mixture over the oats. Stir very well until everything is evenly coated. Cover a baking sheet with foil and pour the oat mixture out onto it. Spread the mixture into a layer about 1/2 inch thick. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.
- When the granola comes out of the oven, take a spatula and press it down to compress it. Allow the granola to completely cool. Once cooled, break into chunks and serve or store in an air-tight container at room temperature.
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Nutrition
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Step By Step Photos
Begin by combining the oats, coconut, and almonds. Stir until they are evenly mixed. You can used sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut. I would have preferred unsweetened, but my store only had sweetened. :(
Combine the rest of the ingredients (oil, brown sugar, honey, salt, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, and water) in a small pot. Heat over a medium-low flame and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
There, it’s all dissolved. That only took a few minutes.
Pour that chocolate mixture over the oats/coconut/almonds.
Stir, stir, stir, and stir until everything is evenly coated in chocolate goodness.
Spread the mixture out on a baking sheet that has been covered in foil. Bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for 45 minutes – no stirring required.
After it comes out of the oven it will still be soft. Press it down with a spatula to compress the granola – this is going to be what makes the nice large chunks when it cools.
Let it cool COMPLETELY and then break it up into chunks. You can store this granola at room temperature in an air-tight container.
Move over Count Dracula!
Okay, while typing this up I thought about how awesome it would be to add some banana chips to this. Do it after it’s baked so that you don’t burn them.
Also, I might have to try making an Aztec Cocoa version… YUM!
Hey Beth!
This is in the oven right now. The syrup smells and tastes exactly like brownie batter!! I can’t leave well enough alone, so I tripled t recipe and added chopped pecans and chopped almonds, extra coconut, some pepitas and some blanched almond flour because it’s all I had and I like a busy granola.
Because of all the extras, I increased the syrup ingredients a little to cover everything and it worked perfectly. Checking it at 20 mins, then 35. I think it’ll be done then.
You’re right, banana chips would be good, as would peanut butter in the syrup. I don’t think any fruit other than banana would be good with this… Would it? Hrmmm…
I’ve recently started to make my own granola due to the prices of what I used to by increasing so much. This one is a definite winner. Even though I overcooked it a little, my fiance says it’s the best recipe I’ve tried yet!
Is “the dough” supposed to be sticky or like when i put it on the pan?
Not too sticky but just enough to spread out onto the pan.
Can you use aquafaba instead of the oil for this recipe?
Yes you can!
Update. I made this with 1/2 cup of aquafaba following the “oil-free granola” instructions for mixing. I left out the extra water and baked for 40 min at 250 degrees on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. It came out perfectly and still broke into nice chunks!
YUMMY!!! Eating this with yoghurt and strawberries for an afternoon snack!
I followed this recipe to a T with no substitutions. At 33 minutes it started to burn. Disappointed that this recipe didn’t pan out.
I have made this more times than I can count. Read through the comments and noticed that a few people said theirs was burned. I only had one batch that burned and it was cooked on a metal cookie sheet. All the other times I used a baking stone and it turned out perfect. My favorite thing about this? After I’ve eaten a bowl, the leftover milk is chocolatey goodness!
I love Almond Joy candy bars and I am definitely going to give this a try. I normally make a soaked granola that I do in my dehydrator so going to see if I can adapt my recipe with these flavors!