Chocolate Nut Granola
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This granola is crunchy, chocolatey, and naturally sweet. With toasted quinoa, chia seeds, hemp hearts, cacao nibs, and chocolate, it’s a breakfast that tastes like a treat. It’s easy to make and will keep for up to a month!
We’re big fans of homemade granola and this one gets bonus points because it’s chock-full of good ingredients like quinoa, chia seeds, hemp hearts, and cacao nibs. We like it crunchy so we bake it until it’s golden and allow it to cool completely before storing (this is the trick for big granola chunks).
For an easy breakfast, we serve this granola on smoothie bowls or with yogurt and fresh fruit. We sometimes even snack on it by the handful. It’s so good!
It’s a great granola recipe for making ahead of time for quick on-the-go breakfasts. It makes a lovely gift, too. Put some in a glass jar, tie a ribbon around it, and share it with a friend to make their day.
Granola ingredients
Here’s everything you need to make this delicious granola:
- Quinoa – toasted quinoa gives this granola a nice crunch.
- Rolled oats
- Unsweetened shredded coconut – for texture and a subtle coconut taste.
- Nuts – in the pictures, we used a mix of pecans, walnuts, and almonds but you can use your favorites.
- Chia seeds + hemp hearts
- Cacao nibs – these are the crumbled bits of dried cacao beans, they’re unprocessed and not sweet.
- Dried fruit – we like to use a mix of dried fruit including raisins, cranberries, blueberries, currants, and cherries. You can also use larger dried fruit (like dates or apricots) but make sure to chop them small.
- Honey – to naturally sweeten it up.
- Coconut oil
- Sea salt
- Dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips
Ideas for serving chocolate nut granola
This coconut cacao granola makes an easy breakfast or anytime snack. Enjoy it with milk or yogurt and fresh seasonal fruit. We especially love it with sweet-tart raspberries when they’re in season!
We also love making smoothie bowls with it. It tastes especially great on top of our peanut butter banana smoothie, chocolate chia seed smoothie, and very berry almond butter smoothie.
Chocolate Nut Granola Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup quinoa
- 2 cups rolled oats (use gluten-free, if needed)
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 ½ cups chopped nuts (see notes)
- ¼ cup chia seeds
- ¼ cup hemp hearts
- ¼ cup cacao nibs
- ½ cup dried fruit (see notes)
- ½ cup honey
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the quinoa to a small dry pan over medium-high heat. Once the quinoa starts to pop, shake the pan frequently until the quinoa is golden brown, about 1 minute.¼ cup quinoa
- Add the oats, coconut, nuts, chia seeds, hemp hearts, cacao nibs, dried fruit, and toasted quinoa to a large bowl and mix well.2 cups rolled oats, 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, 1 ½ cups chopped nuts , ¼ cup chia seeds, ¼ cup hemp hearts, ¼ cup cacao nibs, ½ cup dried fruit
- Add the honey, coconut oil, and salt to a small pot over medium-high heat and bring it to a boil. Watch it closely as the honey bubbles up a lot.½ cup honey, 3 tablespoons coconut oil, ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Pour the hot honey over the oats and mix well. Transfer the granola mixture to the baking sheet and spread out in an even layer.
- Bake the granola for 35-45 minutes, mixing it twice during baking. Take the granola out of the oven when it turns golden brown and smells amazing. It will crisp as it cools.
- Let the granola cool for 5 minutes then gently stir in the chocolate. It will melt a little and adhere to the oats – just don't mix it too much! Let the granola cool completely before storing it.½ cup chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
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Dear Kristen,
Please, can you send me this email in grams? I am from Barcelona and here we don’t deal with cups as you do, so it is not so familiar for us. Thanks! Sílvia.
Chocolate really is the best way to start the day, isn’t it?!
I know the feeling, girl!!
Can you please clarify the toasting of the quinoa? I always have to rinse it first to remove that horrible bitter taste. Do you toast it from wet or let it dry or what? Thanks! Looks delicious!
Of course! I add the dry quinoa to a dry pan over medium-high heat. The quinoa will start to pop like crazy, a little like popcorn. Don’t worry, it doesn’t pop out of the pan. You don’t have to wait for all the popping to stop, just for the quinoa to look brown. And remember to shake the pan so it doesn’t burn!
Doing it this way, I’ve never noticed any bitter taste. 🙂