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!
Nice chocolate granola that isn’t sweet. I used Let’s Do Organic Unsweetened Coconut because that is what we had, but I think it would be better with the chunkier sweetened version of coconut. That way you would see and taste the coconut more, and it would give it a little more sweetness. The first bite had a slight bitter or possibly borderline burnt taste, but I added whole milk to it and that went away. This would also be great on top of coconut Greek yogurt!
Followed the instructions exactly and it came out amazing. It really satisfied my chocolate craving.
I made this recipe last night but substituted the vegetable oil with coconut oil and added coconut coated cashews from Trader Joes.
The house smelled lovely with the mixture of delicate chocolate and subtle hints of coconut! My mouth was watering the whole time this aroma was infiltrating the rooms from the baking.
As for the outcome, it is fantastic. I ate some for breakfast with some milk and I love it! I like how the granola is crunchy and not too sweet. It has that perfect amount of chocolate that entices you to eat more and not feel bad about it. Who knew that chocolate and coconut was a great combination!
Thanks again for this awesome recipe! I am inspired to explore more, especially with oats and granola. I may not be the best cook since I tend to burn things, but this has made my day, and possibly my week! :)
Love it!
I made this today and the wet ingredients didn’t coat the dry. What did I do wrong?
It always looks like it won’t be enough when you first start stirring, but if you stir and stir and stir, eventually everything will be lightly coated.
This is the best granola I’ve ever made… and I’ve been making a lot lately. It actually turned out and stayed together instead of crumbling apart. It tastes amazing. Thank you!!!!
How long will this keep at room temperature?
Just as long as any normal dry cereal. Just keep it sealed tight so that it doesn’t go stale. :)
These are soOo good although the second time I made them I forgot the water and it didn’t come out crunchy at all. So much regret
Also just wanted to say that I think using varying degrees of parboiled (quick cook) oats may be the reason for everyone’s cook time discrepancies. That being said, I kinda wish I used my quick oats for this double batch in the oven right now!
made this a year or so ago and it was awesome. Just bought some Nature’s Path Love Crunch granola and its basically the same thing-but with small chunks of chocolate and small pieces of freeze dried strawberries mixed in once it’s cooled and broken up. Eating it reminded me of making this recipe before, and I think I’m going to have to make some once the store bought version runs out. Love your recipes.
AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are in love with this recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After reading all the comments on how easy it is to burn this recipe and knowing how i tend to burn things all the time! I set the temperature at 250 and baked them for about 30-40 minutes. I basically watched it closely at all times and it was so worth it. I added whole pecans, dark chocolate chunks and dried cranberries. Such a good mid-afternoon snack. We always keep these ingredients on hand so we plan to repeat this recipe in the future.
Thank you!!! 5 stars!
45 mins @ 300 degrees was WAY too long for my oven, all I got was a burnt black mass. I’ll try it again cuz it sounds like Almond Joy granola, but I’ll have to keep a closer eye on it.
The granola is cooking and it smells FABULOUS!!! My three year old daughter helped me and she thought it was finger licking, bol scraping good!
I ment to rate it 5 big stars!!!
If I wanted to add chia or flax seeds, when should I add them in the process? Before they go in the oven or after and still benefit from them nutritionally?
Thanks!
For most nutritional punch, add them after baking so that the oils aren’t damaged by the heat.
Beth, how do you buy almonds so cheaply?
I usually buy my almonds from the bulk bins at the grocery store – they’re much cheaper there than if you buy a small bag of them from the baking aisle. They’re sold by the pound and those sliced almonds really don’t weigh much, so the total cost is usually pretty low :)
Thanks for the tip. I’ll browse the local markets and see if their almonds are cheaper. I made this recipe today, but mine also over-cooked a bit. Next time, I’ll reduce the heat and time.
Anonymous – I’m sure it would work just fine without the nuts :)
could i omit the almonds and the coconut? i’d love some simple chocolaty-oatmeal without nuts/coconut.