Healthy Chocolate Granola Recipe (Oil Free) (2024)

This is the easiest healthy chocolate granola recipe that’s oil free, low in sugar, and ready in under 30 minutes! This chocolatey homemade granola recipe makes for a wonderfully healthy breakfast, snack, dessert, or treat!

Why I love this easy chocolate granola recipe

I mean, there’s little not to love about chocolate for breakfast, if any. Especially when you get to have chocolate first thing in the morning and it’s still technically considered a wonderfully nutrient-rich healthy vegan breakfast!

Not only is this chocolate granola so decadent and delicious, but it won’t leave you feeling bogged down, or on a sugar rush all morning!

Plus, you get these incredibly crunchy big clusters of homemade granola, all while being oil free.

Now let me clear this up: there is nothing wrong with eating granola made from oil! The main reason I made this granola recipe oil free is because I wanted to “stand out in the crowd”- there are so many granola recipes out there using coconut oil that I wanted to be a bit different!

The other reason being is that by using peanut butter, we can add some other nutrients, such as plant based proteins and Vitamin E and magnesium, to this granola recipe, while keeping in the good fats.

You can use any nut butter here, but I went with peanut butter because I’m chocolate and peanut butter obsessed!

What’s more, this homemade granola is my favorite for making at the start of the week so that I can have breakfast all week long; it’s the best meal prep recipe because it’s so dang easy and doesn’t take hours in the kitchen!

Just make the granola on a Sunday afternoon, and you’re set for breakfast all week long!

Chocolate Granola Ingredients:

As mentioned above, this recipe is entirely oil free, but we’re still including those healthy fats, just with some added nutrients.

For this chocolate granola recipe, you’ll need:

• Rolled oats: I love to use sprouted oats because I think it gives a bit of a crunchier texture to it. Plus, sprouted grains have been linked with having higher levels of antioxidants. Just a nice added benefit!
• Cacao powder: I like to use cacao powder over cocoa powder because I find it has a much richer taste and I love that cacao powder is full of iron and magnesium.
• Peanut butter: I give some options for making this nut free, so read on!
• Maple syrup: I love maple syrup here because it naturally contains nutrients, such as zinc, magnesium, and calcium! Back in March, I was able to take a trip up to the Crown Maple farm in New York (aka my favorite maple syrup), and it was absolutely incredible seeing how maple syrup is made! By far my favorite syrup, so definitely check it out!
• Pea protein: or any plant based protein! This one is optional, but if you’re a long time Banana reader, then you know I love some added protein in my vegan breakfasts!
• Chocolate chips: my personal favorite is using Lily’s sweets, which are stevia sweetened, but this is also wonderful with Enjoy Life!
• Peanuts: check the substitutes section and the notes section of the recipe card for nut free options!

Homemade Granola Kitchen Essentials:

Making granola at home is so easy, you really don’t need much! I just recommend having on hand:

• Baking sheet
• Large bowl
• Rubber spatula or large mixing spoon
• Storage container

Then you’re ready to start making your chocolate granola!

How to make oil free healthy granola:

This homemade granola recipe will only take you about 25 minutes total, so it’s a great recipe to make when you’re in a pinch for a delicious yet healthy breakfast option that suits all eaters, including kids.

To make this chocolate granola:

1. Toss the oats, cacao powder, and pea protein powder together.
2. Fold in the peanut butter and maple syrup, and sprinkle the granola onto a baking sheet.
3. Add in the peanuts and bake!
4. Once baked, remove from the oven and transfer the granola back to the bowl.
5. Add in the chocolate chips, and toss to completely melt the chocolate and coat the granola in a gooey rich sweetness that will help for these big clusters!

Once the chocolate sets, you’ll have these massive clusters of chocolate peanut butter granola that you can either leave as is or break into smaller granola clusters!

Best ways to enjoy this chocolate granola:

I personally love enjoying a bowl of this granola with extra chocolate chips, some banana slices, and a splash of oat milk. However, some more fun healthy breakfast ideas include:

• Dairy free yogurt parfait with mixed fruit and nuts and/or seeds
• Dipping a banana in peanut butter or maple syrup, and rolling it in some of the smaller crunches of granola
• As a delicious and fun vegan ice cream sundae topping
• In a peanut butter, apple, and banana sandwich
• As a smoothie topping
• As a muffin topping, like for these blueberry oat muffins!
• Straight from the jar with a spoon!

Granola Ingredient Substitutes:

If you’re nut free or peanut free, you can swap in sunflower seed butter or coconut butter in place of peanut butter. Additionally, you can also add in sunflower seeds and/or coconut flakes instead of peanuts.

If you want a different nut butter, I recommend also using a pecan butter, or even cashew butter!

If you can’t have cacao, you can absolutely swap in carob powder and carob chips in place of cacao and chocolate chips!

If you want to use a plant based protein as the optional add-in, I recommend using Nuzest vanilla protein or Terrasoul unflavored pea protein. Those are my two favorites! However, feel free to use whichever is your favorite!

How to store homemade granola:

I recommend storing your homemade healthy granola in an airtight container, such as one by Anchor Hawking (my personal fave) or a mason jar (another personal fave and definitely more hipster ha!).

Once in a container, you can store your granola in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to a month.

If you’re storing it in the freezer, you don’t even need to thaw- you can just add some to a bowl, pour some homemade oat milk over the top and enjoy!

I hope you love this healthy granola recipe as much as I do! If you make it, let me know down below in the comments section, as well as giving it a rating so that others can see!

As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!

Happy Granola Making!

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