Crunchy grain-free chocolate granola made with nuts, seeds, molasses, and coconut oil (or nut butter). Easy vegan, gluten-free, and paleo snacking!
There are friends. And then there are friends who make you chocolate granola.
That second group – keep them close and never let them go.
I was visiting my friend Sonya a couple of weeks ago. She said snack, I of course said YES, and next thing I know this girl is whipping up some sort of chocolatey skillet granola situation. Nothing was measured, there was no shortage of chocolate, and the batch was more than half gone between the two of us. Well after we took photos and debated how best to not make your hand look deformed on camera.
I was craving more for days after, so I had to come up with my own version. Her recipe is really simple and oaty (and comes with a fun make-ya-want-to-dance video!). My take is grain-free with a few more ingredients, but still really easy to make on the stovetop or in the oven.
My favorite part? It’s sweetened only with molasses.
I know that might sound weird, and if you don’t like the flavor of molasses you can use other sweeteners too, but personally I love the richness of molasses with chocolate. And you don’t need very much of it either.
Combined with the molasses, you need either coconut oil or a nut/seed butter. The almond butter batch yielded bigger clusters than the coconut oil batch, but needed to bake just a little bit longer.
In place of oats, we’re using:
- walnuts
- pumpkin seeds
- hemp seeds
- flax seeds
- chia seeds
- coconut flakes
You could use hazelnuts instead of walnuts. Or sunflower seeds instead of pumpkin. Or more flax seeds and less hemp. Mix it up and make it your own, as long as you have the same total volume the details don’t matter too much.
And then cocoa powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt for flavor. When it comes to granola things, that big pinch of SALT is key.
Oven or stovetop – this recipe works either way. Oven is more hands off, but sometimes in the summer I just don’t want to turn that thing on. Both take about the same amount of time and a little bit of watching/stirring either way so it doesn’t burn (especially keep an eye on those coconut flakes!)
Yummy on top of bowls.
Yummy doused in milk.
Yummy by the handful straight from the jar/bag/pan.
Happy oat-less granola making to you!
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Crunchy grain-free chocolate granola made with nuts, seeds, molasses, and coconut oil (or nut butter). Easy vegan, gluten-free, and paleo snacking!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (60g) chopped walnuts (or nuts of choice)
- 1/2 cup (60g) hemp seeds
- 1/2 cup (60g) pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup (35g) flax seeds
- 1/4 cup (40g) chia seeds
- 1 cup (45g) coconut flakes
- 1/4 cup (20g) cacao powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (20g) coconut oil OR nut/seed butter
- 1/4 cup (80g) molasses OR liquid sweetener of choice
Instructions
- Combine the nuts, seeds, and coconut in a large bowl.
- Add the salt, cinnamon, vanilla, and cacao powder. Stir to evenly coat.
- Add the molasses and coconut oil or nut/seed butter. Mix until evenly coated and clumpy (hands work best, especially if using the nut/seed butter)
- Spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes at 325F. Stir, then bake for an addition 5-8 minutes watching the edges carefully to avoid burning. For big clusters, cool completely before removing from the pan.
- Or cook in a non-stick pan over medium heat for 10-15 minutes stirring frequently. It should look dry when it’s done. Cool in the pan or spread out on a plate/pan to allow clusters to form.
- Enjoy by the handful, with milk, on top of yogurt/smoothies/ice cream, etc.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. I like it best chilled!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
- Calories: 275
- Sugar: 9g
- Fat: 21g
- Saturated Fat: 9g
- Carbohydrates: 18g
- Fiber: 7g
- Protein: 7g
Keywords: gluten-free, paleo, snack, vegan, chocolate, easy
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hooray! no oats. Looks very tempting.
YES!! Lots of other yummy crunchy, chocolate-coated things instead🤗 Enjoy!
Molasses is so underrated and so nutritious and I love how you combined it with chocolate. Having a tasty chocolate granola recipe on hand that isn’t full of sugar is a requirement so thanks for another amazing recipe!
Right!? It makes it’s annual appearance at Christmas time for all the gingerbread things and then back in the cupboard for the other 11 months😂 But I love it and I really love it here! Perfectly sweet without lots of sugar🍫😋 Thanks girl!
Girl, my favorite chocolate granola I use molasses in as well and it’s SO GOOD! Molasses makes chocolate taste so much richer, not to mention those heavenly clumps that form! I’m allll excited this is full of so much hearty healthy fats, nuts and seeds and I bet the crunch factor is off the chain. I love that there is a skillet and baked version. I admit that I’ve seen the skillet version but never tried it personally, does it get as crunchy as the oven does? Granola is such the perfect snack too, great for on-the-go snacking in the car or I really love eating it with homemade cashew milk too as cereal. SO satisfying. I literally have every single ingredient too in my kitchen, even in my chaotic new apartment, hahaha. I bet this would be yummy on top of ice cream too since ice cream is super sweet and this granola is not real sweet, it would be the best combo!
No fan of molasses I wonder if I can use some almond butter?
You can use a different sweetener like honey or maple syrup, but with almond butter it won’t be sweet at all so I don’t recommend that 🙂
I LOVE molasses!! It’s been a staple in our house forever and I’m so happy to see it in this recipe!! 😍😍 Such a deep, rich flavor, so I can only imagine how amazing this granola is. chocolate + molasses is such a delicious combo and I love the whole ingredient list…always exciting to see a grain-free granola ❤️ This will make an excellent breakfast, snack, or dessert (mmmm, with ice cream)! Can’t wait to try it!
Um I’m on my 4th batch in two weeks with this stuff, so it’s safe to say I’m OBSESSED. And I highly approve of your ice cream topping plan…not that I know from many many instances of experience or anything😆 Molasses is amazing, I am still shocked by how little you need here🤗 And no oats HOORAH! Hope you do give it a shot❤️
This looks so good but, sadly, I can’t stomach coconut! Could you recommend a sub for it?
The coconut is not a must! Just use more nuts/seeds, a little less though (like 3/4 cup or so). Hope you enjoy 🙂
This looks so good!! I will definitely be trying it soon. I love that it has chia, flax, and hemp in it!!! I’m curious if this could be made into bars? If I packed it in a 9×13 or 8×8 pan, baked it, and cut it into bars, do you think they would hold together? Do you think the cooking time/temp would change at all?
Thanks
Charlie
Hmm could work, idk you’d have to try it and see. They may be a bit too fragile/crumbly, but if that’s the case then you still have granola so nothing to lose really 🙂
Hi Nadalie! I just tried this recipe and I feel like the molasses I used didn’t have the best flavor. What brand of molasses do you like?
Hi Jackie! I use the trader joe’s brand of molasses, but getting a variety that’s not blackstrap will make the flavor more mild. Also I really love the taste of molasses, even straight, but many people don’t so maybe just try a different sweetener like maple syrup or honey. You might like that better😊
This granola looks yummy on the pictures! Will definitely try it out! thanks!
It’s my favorite topping, I’ve made soooooo many batches! Hope you love it too 🙂