Crunchy homemade granola with chunks of dark chocolate and sweet dried cranberries is a satisfying and delicious breakfast. Just 6 ingredients and ready in under 30 minutes. Is there anything better than chocolate for breakfast? It doesn't have to be as indulgent as it sounds, as a little bit of dark chocolate goes a long way in this Chocolate Granola with Cranberries recipe.
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This chocolate granola recipe is such a great batch cook breakfast, as it stores well. Make a huge pan and then store it in a jar for quick and easy breakfasts over the next couple of weeks.
You just can't beat homemade granola (we even have a Low Sugar Granola and an Air Fryer Granola), as you can control exactly what goes into it. It also smells amazing when cooking!
This dark chocolate granola might just be our favourite, as it has a really rich flavour from the dark chocolate, which is balanced out by the sweetness and bitterness of the dried cranberries.
If you are looking for other ways to use cranberries, then why not try our moist Cranberry Bread, delicious Cranberry Chicken, festive Cranberry Brie Bites or our easy Cranberry Orange Muffins?
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Why You Will Love It
- Chocolate for breakfast - Whilst we love eggs for breakfast, we are also a big fan of sweet breakfasts and this tastes far more indulgent than it actually is. If you get a chocolate craving at breakfast, then this recipe for chocolate granola is a great way to feed it, literally.
- Good for batch cooking - This recipe makes a big tray of 10 servings of granola, so it is ideal for batch cooking and keeping for breakfasts over the coming weeks, as it stores really well.
- Easy - I bet you didn't know how easy it was to make your own granola! It's as simple as melting the honey and coconut oil, mixing everything together and baking until nice and crispy.
- Adaptable - We have used chocolate and cranberries as the main flavours in this homemade granola, but there are lots of ways that you can adapt it. More on that below.
Ingredients and Substitutions
A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Honey - This is what sweetens the dark chocolate granola and helps to make it sticky and bind it together. You can swap it for maple syrup, which would help to make it vegan too (you would also need to adapt the chocolate for a vegan alternative). You can use agave syrup, brown rice syrup, or even coconut nectar as a substitute for maple syrup or honey.
- Coconut oil - This is what binds everything together.
- Oats - We used rolled oats (old fashioned oats) as the texture is better and it helps everything stick together. We wouldn't recommend using instant or quick cook oats, as they don't hold together as well. If you want this to be a gluten free, then you need to make sure the oats are certified gluten free.
- Cranberries - This adds a lovely sweetness, as well as a little tart flavour. We used dried cranberries, as dried fruit works best in granola, but other dried fruit works well too.
- Chocolate - We used a really good quality dark chocolate (70%) and the strong flavour means that a little goes a long way.
- Almonds - These add plenty of crunch and texture to the granola. We used whole almonds, but you can use sliced almonds or even a mixture of both.
Variations
Chocolate and cranberries are the stars here, and this is a fairly simple recipe. However there are a few different ways that you can adapt it.
Chocolate - This is one of the main flavours in the granola, so try to use the best quality that you can. We used a 70% dark chocolate, as the strong flavour means that you can get away with using less as it goes a long way. But you can also use milk or white chocolate. Add some extra flavour with a flavoured chocolate like chocolate orange.
Fruit - Dried fruit is what you want to use here. We used dried cranberries, but dried cherries, apricots, dates, raisins or sultanas will also work.
Nuts - We used almonds, but any nuts work well. You can use just one nut, or use a mixture of a few. Nuts that work well are pecans, cashews, peanuts or walnuts.
Extras - It doesn't just have to be nuts that are added to this granola. Seeds as lots of crunch too and we like adding sunflower or pumpkin seeds. If you wanted to add some extra flavour, and festive flavour at that, then add a sprinkle of cinnamon into the mixture - it goes so well with the chocolate.
For a protein boost, you can add a scoop of chocolate protein powder to this chocolate granola recipe.
How To Make Chocolate Granola
One: Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C(fan)/400°F/Gas 6 and line a large baking sheet with grease proof paper.
Two: Place the honey and coconut oil in a pan and melt over a low heat. Add the remaining ingredients, except the chocolate and cranberries, and mix well.
Three: Pour the granola onto the baking sheet and spread it out evenly. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway.
Four: Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature and then add the chocolate and cranberries and mix. Transfer to an airtight container and use within 2 weeks.
What To Serve With Homemade Chocolate Granola
We usually serve dark chocolate granola with some milk in a bowl, but there is so much more that you can do with it. You can eat it with yogurt, or use it to top muffins with - it's also really good on ice cream.
Also, why not try it on top of a Smoothie Bowl. But, cranberry and dark chocolate granola muffins sound like something I am going to try very soon.
We love this for breakfast with a nice hot drink. Why not try our Chai Tea Latte, Cinnamon Coffee or Pumpkin Spice Latte.
Dannii's Top Tips
- Make sure you leave the chocolate granola to cool on the baking tray before you eat it or put it in a jar. I know, it is hard not to eat it straight from the tray.
- Feel free to use a mixture of nuts and dried fruit.
- You can freeze granola, but make sure that it isn't frozen for longer than 3 months.
- Granola can quickly go from golden brown to burnt, so keep an eye on it during the last few minutes of baking.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can make up a big batch of this and just keep it in an airtight container for two weeks.
Yes, you can actually freeze granola which not many people know about. Put it in a zip lock bag and squeeze as much air out of it as possible. Don't keep it in the freezer for any longer than 3 months and defrost it as room temperature before using.
If you use oats that are certified gluten free and make sure that there is no cross contamination, then this can be gluten free.
This recipe is not vegan, because we have used honey and non vegan chocolate. However, you can make a vegan version by using maple syrup instead of honey and using a vegan dark chocolate.
More Breakfast Recipes
If you've tried this chocolate granola recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
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Recipe
Dark Chocolate and Cranberry Granola
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoon of Runny honey
- 4 tablespoon of Coconut oil
- 180 g (2.25 cups) of Rolled oats - (use certified gluten free oats to ensure this recipe is gluten free)
- 100 g (1 cups) of Dried cranberries
- 100 g (0.75 cups) of Almonds
- 100 g (3.5 oz) of Chocolate - 80% dark; roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C(fan)/400°F/Gas 6 and line a large baking sheet with grease proof paper.
- Place 4 tbsp of Runny honey and 4 tbsp of Coconut oil in a pan and melt over a low heat. Add 180 g of Rolled oats and 100 g of Almonds.
- Pour the granola onto the baking sheet and spread it out evenly. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway.
- Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature and then add 100 g of Chocolate (chopped) and 100 g of Dried cranberries and mix. Transfer to an airtight container and use within 2 weeks.
Recipe Tips
- Make sure you leave the granola to cool on the baking tray before you eat it or put it in a jar. I know, it is hard not to eat it straight from the tray.
- Feel free to use a mixture of nuts and dried fruit.
- You can freeze granola, but make sure that it isn't frozen for longer than 3 months.
- To ensure this recipe is definitely gluten free, use oats that are certified gluten free.
Nutritional Information
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The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
As all appliances vary, cooking times are a guide. Please note that by changing the serving size, the cooking time may also need to be altered.
Christa says
Further to my previous review, I’ve tried the new recipe with a couple of my own amendments and it turned out great! This will definitely be a mainstay in my house from now on. The amendments I made were: lowering the oven temp to 150c fan, and baking for 40 mins, I got that dark colour and toasty flavour but without risk of burning. I also increased the oats to 250g because this personally gave me a nicer ratio of ingredients (fyi I used jumbo porridge oats).
Christa says
A lovely recipe but it burned. I reduced the temp to 180c for my fan assisted oven and didn’t give it a second over the 20min cooking time. The granola was passable but I don’t think it works by baking the cranberries with the other ingredients, they should be added with the chocolate at the end. They were crunchy and bitter and it ruined the overall flavour.
Dannii says
Hello! Sorry about that - the recipe should say add the remaining ingredients except the chocolate and cranberries (which are both added at the end). I have edited the recipe now.Cooking times will vary depending on the oven used too. I hope you still managed to enjoy it.