This healthy chocolate granola recipe is super simple to make. It is loaded with tons of granola clusters (the best part!), oats, and almonds. It is lower in sugar than your average store-bought granola, but still with the perfect touch of sweetness. We load up on the chocolate flavor with cocoa powder and mini chocolate chips. It is naturally gluten-free, easy to prep, and perfect for serving the family for a quick breakfast.

Easy + Healthy Chocolate Granola Recipe – Oil Free!

I love my homemade granola! We have quite a few granola recipes here because they are such a staple in our house.

If you’re looking to stop getting store-bought granola and this is your first time making homemade granola, this is a great recipe to start with!

This particular recipe feels extra special because it’s double chocolate granola – YUM!

We’re using cocoa powder and mini chocolate chips in the chocolate mixture.

The secret ingredient to give you those amazing clusters? Cacao butter!

Cacao butter is what I use to make my own homemade low-sugar chocolate. It hardens so much at room temperature, which gives you great clusters and crunchy granola!

What you’ll need for this easy chocolate granola recipe

• cacao butter
• pure maple syrup
• almond butter
• vanilla extract
• rolled oats
• almonds
• unsweetened cocoa powder
• sea salt
• mini chocolate chips

How to make this healthy granola recipe

Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions.

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Step 2: In a small pot over low heat, add the cacao butter to melt (or melt in the microwave). Once it is melted, add the maple syrup, almond butter, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.

Step 3: In a 9” x 13” baking dish, stir together the oats, chopped almonds, cocoa powder, and sea salt. You can also mix it in a large bowl first, then transfer it into the baking dish or a baking sheet. Once the dry ingredients are fully mixed, add the wet ingredients. Stir the cacao butter mixture until there are no dry spots in your granola mixture. Smooth into an even layer, but don’t press down.

Step 4: Bake for 20 minutes, stir and return it to the oven for 10 more minutes. Remove and add the mini chocolate chips and bake for 5 more minutes.

Step 5: Allow to fully cool before storing in an airtight container.

Watch the full video tutorial on how to make chocolate almond granola!

Watch the how-to video below, or over on the Fit Mama Real Food YouTube channel.

What to serve with this homemade granola recipe

We love granola as part of a quick and healthy breakfast. Here are my favorite ways to enjoy granola.

I also love to serve it with my high-protein chocolate peanut butter Greek yogurt for the ultimate healthy and indulgent high-protein treat!

To make a balanced breakfast, start with a base of plain full-fat yogurt (or your preferred yogurt). Add fresh fruit (berries and bananas are my go-to!), and top with this delicious granola!

For a fun treat, all chocolate lovers would enjoy, think of this granola as a chocolate cereal and enjoy it with almond milk!

Substitutions, optional variations & dietary adjustments

Below you’ll find a list of substitutions that will work well in this dark chocolate granola recipe. 

If you try something different out, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it turned out!

Cacao butter – Butter or coconut oil are great substitutes for cacao butter. Something like avocado oil and olive oil would work okay, but wouldn’t leave you with the big crunchy clusters you’d get with the other options.

Maple syrup – To replace the maple syrup, try coconut sugar or brown sugar. Agave would work as a liquid sugar substitute. Honey burns a little too quickly and wouldn’t work as well in this recipe.

Almond butter – Any nut or seed butter works well here. Peanut butter and sunflower seed butter would be super delicious, as would tahini (sesame seed butter).

Rolled oats – Quick oats and old-fashioned oats are both great substitutes in this recipe.

Almonds – You could turn this into a chocolate hazelnut granola easily by substituting the almonds for hazelnuts. Try other chopped nuts like walnuts, pecans, peanuts, or cashews. You could even substitute seeds like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or chia seeds!

Cocoa powder – Raw cacao powder is a great substitute here for unsweetened cocoa powder. Carob powder would work as well and will also give a chocolate flavor.

Chocolate chips – Use regular or mini-size chocolate chips. Dark chocolate chips are super delicious, and semi-sweet chocolate or milk chocolate works well too. If you don’t have chocolate chips on hand, take your favorite chocolate bar and chop it into pieces to add to the granola. For a non-sweet chocolate option, add cacao nibs for a great boost of antioxidants.

Vanilla extract – Vanilla bean paste works great here. For a different flavor profile try a little bit of almond extract.

More healthy granola recipes to try

• Hemp granola
• Chocolate peanut butter buckwheat granola
• Maple coconut peanut crunch granola
• Almond maple olive oil granola

If you try this healthy dark chocolate granola recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!

XO

Heather

Originally published May 2021. Updated January 2025.

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