Deep into Reno-cation week, the idea of this dessert granola came to me. I was sore, I was weak, and I was needing a major pick-me-up at the end of a long day of painting intricate wood trim.
Chocolate sounded like the answer.
Eric said it was my best idea all week.
I dreamed of crunchy and clumpy, warm, chocolaty granola cascading over the top of a bowl of cold Banana Soft Serve. It was just the thing to give me hope that renos would some day come to an end.
Because when you’ve been wearing red plaid PJ’s and clogs for a week straight, hope is all you have!
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Chocolate Crunch Dessert Granola
Yield: ~6 cups
Ingredients:
- 2 & 1/4 cup regular oats
- 1/2 cup peanuts (or whatever nuts you prefer)
- 1/2-3/4 tsp kosher salt, to taste (I used 3/4 tsp)
- 2 tbsp peanut butter (or other nut butter)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp brown rice syrup (this gives the clumpy factor)
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 & 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a non-stick mat.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (oats, salt, peanuts). In another smaller bowl, stir together the oil, brown rice syrup, and peanut butter. Heat in microwave for about 45 seconds. Stir well and stir in vanilla.
3. Add wet to dry and stir very well until oats are coated. Spread on baking sheet and bake at 325F for 20-25 minutes, flipping once half way through (it will be very sticky, not to worry!). Allow to cool on baking sheet for about 30 minutes before transferring into a container. I store mine in the fridge to keep the chocolate firm. Makes 6 cups.
Note: You can probably substitute other liquid sweeteners for BRS and other light-tasting oils for coconut oil. The Brown Rice Syrup makes it quite clumpy though, so I prefer to use that sweetener in granola!
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Luckily for me (and my sore arms!), this recipe was quick and easy. It only takes 5 minutes to throw this together and pop it into the oven.
The most important ingredient to your dessert granola:
You know the drill by now…mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then mix the wet (heat up in microwave), and then add wet to dry and stir well.
Add in chocolate chips…
Spread onto your prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 23-25 minutes at 325F, flipping once half way through. Cool for 30 minutes (if you can!)
This is what I’m talking about!
The result is a super clumpy and chocolaty dessert granola….without being too sweet.
I served some granola warm over Banana Soft Serve and it was to die for! It is also really good on cereal and VOO.
As for those renos, we did 3 coats of paint yesterday and also installed the wainscoting. The room is looking awesome! We now have to paint the wainscoting and finish up a few details. I’m going to wait to show you the rest of the pictures until we are done! It will be a fairly dramatic before and after, I’m hoping… :)
I also have an 11-mile long training run to tackle today…after skipping a few workouts for renos. Something tells me this isn’t going to be easy!
Perfect fuel for the day before a long run! Yum! I am gonna have to make this soon :) My mileage is starting to pick up too. My half is on the 1st of May, and right now LSD runs are 8 miles. Mmm…excuses to eat more chocolate! But your lovely lentil recipe from yesterday is calling my name tonight!
This looks delightful, and extremely versatile! I can’t wait for warmer weather and banana soft serve!
This really looks delicious! Great idea using it as a topping for banana soft serve.
I love the idea of dessert granola. Looks great!
xo
Oh, that granola looks so incredible! I think I’m drooling a little over here!
This looks delicous. So glad the renos are going well.
On the bright side, you’ve gotten to shamelessly wear PJs for a few days in a row… :)
Chocolate in granola is my fav. Love that you added the PB, too. A well-deserved treat!
You should have your own cooking show. Or maybe a vegan restaurant! How do you find time to cook all the time? =)
Yum! After 8 months in Sweden, where they don’t do the whole chocolate and peanut butter thing (!) I’ve been having mad cravings for anything with that combo. I made a chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting and chocolate peanut butter ganache that was so rich that a teeny slice gave me a headache. Seriously, my frontal lobe was burning before I was done my slice. This recipe seems much more reasonable! I can’t wait to try it out.
I’m in desperate need of some of this now!
Yum! This looks like the perfect post-dinner treat without breaking the caloric bank :)
This may be the most delicous looking and sounding granola I have ever seen. I will have to try it!
Yummy! I’ve had sweet cravings, and this is surely a good (and healthy!) cure for that. Woo!
Mosdef will be making this sometime this week.
I actually wanted to stop by and thank you again for your motivation for me to continue my running. I have set the date for my first ever half marathon. July 17!! so excited. Thank you!!!
I love clumpy granola! What a tasty reward for all your hard work. I can’t wait to see the reveal!
Looks fantastic Angela! I’m impressed at this recipe considering all the work you’ve had to put in at the house! I think I’d just opt for take out :).
I was gonna keep my own decorating nightmare out of the web alltogether but i figured since you’ve been having a bout, i was gonna too..
Hehe..
I even did the wiring… all by myself… with help from my 5year old daughter…
Pride is a great motivator!
and having a stubborn boyfriend who won’t hire help is another….
And today i made a huge step in the vegetarian direction by buying soy milk for the first time in my life…
i have got to start somewhere right?
It lasted untill dinner when my child wanted hamburger for dinner…. LOL
To be fair tho… i do meke the burgers myself from scratch… and i do have a recipe for lentil ones ut i have a feeling they might not fly in my household…
Good job on the Granola!
We don’t really have that sort of stuff in Norway but we eat lads of whole grains.
Looking foreward to seeing your finished decorating!
Hugs from a fellow dusty decorator…on the oposite side of the earth…
11 mile training run? Wow. That is impressive! I used to run lots of 5/10k’s and half marathons and remember doing runs like that. Not anymore. A couple miles and some yoga is about all I can muster :)
Maybe if I knew this granola was waiting for me I could get out the door! So that I could come back and gobble it up! It looks insanely good…and how GOOD did your house smell with coconut oil, PB, Vanilla, and chocolate all baking on oats. Oh my. YUM :)
omg….amazeballs! This looks so good!
Wow that looks so delicious!!! I want some on my banana soft serve :)
Thanks for fun recipes, especially for busy days! You consistently make it fun.
i need to make this…STAT!
Um… YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hehe! So funny with the plaid and crocs :P I’m not kidding about this Angela! But again, you read my mind! hahahaa. I was JUST thinking that granola with choc chips would be really yummy right about now~ :D
Will definitely need to try this one out!
That looks delicious!! I am going to make that ASAP!! Good luck on the 11 miles! You’ll do great!
Good luck with the long run!
Looking at this granola makes me want to go and make it right now… it looks delish!!
So maybe maple syrup would work??
Holy crap as soon as I seen the title I was aghast….I’m on a granola kick lately. And when am I not in love with chocolate…;)
Going to try this recipe asap!!! I love granola!!…I think I am pms..ing…I drooled over the pics…well, the chocolate granola pics…not the clogs..:)
ummm most likely the best granola recipe I have looked at! I can’t wait to make this!
Hope that run went well, you go girl! I am sure you killed it. :)
This recipe looks a little bit like a granola we used to make on canoe trips when I used to be a camp counsellor! It was always the best part of my day. :D
Oh my goodness this looks amazinggg – I loved that you topped it on your banana soft serve YUMMMM
Sounds delicious. Can’t wait to try out the recipe. Clumpy granola is the best!
So simple. So delish. Another win for Angela!
Must…resist…stuffing…face…
This granola sounds delightful! Whenever a recipe calls for brown rice syrup, I substitute with honey because that’s all I have. I wonder if brown rice syrup makes a significant difference in the texture of the granola?
What’s granola without chocoalte clusters? Not soul-soothing, that’s for sure!
Peanut Butter + Chocolate + Banana (softserve) = the best combo ever!
i’ve totally been craving granola — I’m going to have to make a version of this!
This sounds so amazing. I tried the nature’s path love crunch granola and didn’t love it so I need to attempt this to actually taste the chocolate!
Oh yes. Oh yes yes yes. I just made homemade fig and cashew nut butter, and I think that that, along with this chocolate granola, would make for the best garnishes for oatbran ever…
this past week was awful…please send dessert granola ASAP!
I love that this recipe is made up of basic/common ingredients!
Oh. My. Word!! I made this granola last night (definitely one of those “saw-it-and-had-to-have-it” recipes!) and ended up skipping the stir-fry I’d planned and eating granola for dinner! It was amazing out of the oven when it was still soft — I definitely ignored your warning and won’t be tasting anything for a few days, but TOTALLY worth it! The only thing I wish I’d done was to spray my parchment paper with oil, because once the granola got hard, it stuck to the sheet I’d put in the baking pan. It didn’t stop me though… and if I die from ingesting bits of waxed paper, at least I’ll go in a fit of ecstatic, chocolate bliss! :)
Okay, I’m not sure if I should hate you for this recipe or love you to death….. we’ll see what my waist line says at the end of the week when I finish it off (never mind, it won’t take that long!)
SO DELISH, I’ve had 2 bowls a day since I made it last night. You are da-bomb!
p
Wow this looks amazing and I am DEFINITELY making it! I have become obsessed with making homemade granola, 1-2 recipes/wk! Just wondering if it is very “crunchy”? I prefer mine on the crunchy side more so than chewy? Thanks!
Loving your chocolate granola!! Especially in a parfait.
I made this last night and I was amazed my family didn’t eat all of it while it was cooling. I had some with greek yogurt this morning for breakfast, AMAZING!
Thats what I put mind with…..Even got my BF to eat it!
I made this tonight amd OMG it is as good as it looks!
Mmm…this looks good. I just posted my some granola on my blog, so I have it on my mind. And this looks so good! Is there anything besides rice syrup that would work for the clumpy effect?
maybe honey?
Love this. I eat it for breakfast as a treat. :) I used 1 cup of cacao nibs instead of dark chocolate chips, and the sweetness from the brown rice syrup does a really nice job of balancing the bitterness from the pure chocolate! I added some freeze-dried raspberries and strawberries and – voilà, homemade chocolate “Love Crunch” granola (from Nature’s Path).
Thanks for the great recipe! :)