Mocha Chip Granola (Paleo, Gluten-Free)

Upgrade your pantry snack and breakfast game and live your best munchie life with this absolutely delicious Mocha Chip Granola!! Say good-bye to expensive store bought granola for good; this one is the real deal! Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, and Paleo.

The Best Homemade Granola!!

I am 100% on board with a homemade granola recipe, especially one that is made healthier, loaded with healthy fats and fiber, and tastes soooooo dang delicious. As a nutritionist, I am obsessed with taking my favorite flavors (chocolate in this case), and creating something that feels so decadent, but still good for you!

Straight out of my husband’s mouth, “this might be the best thing you’ve ever made”. Coming from someone who loves just about everything I make, for him to elevate this above his other favorites, it must be the real deal.

And let me tell you, everyone who has tasted it agrees. My kids have been munching non-stop, and also loving this with milk for breakfast. My in-laws popped over for a brunch visit on my son’s birthday, and also devoured their bowl asking when they could get the recipe.

And then there are a few of my friends in the neighborhood. Some of their favorite activities include stopping over in the afternoons for just a chat on my kitchen counter. Always hopeful I have something fun for them to taste test. This one was the hit of the week! Also prompted a few text messages asking when this recipe was finally going live.

All of this to say, this recipe couldn’t wait another day!! It had to be shared.

I often add chia seeds to recipes like this…they’re an easy way to boost fiber and a staple in many of my homemade snacks.

How to make Mocha Chip Granola:

We start by gathering our ingredients:

• whole almonds
• walnuts
• pumpkin seeds
• sunflower seeds
• unsweetened coconut flakes
• chia seeds
• coconut oil
• cocoa powder
• maple syrup
• coconut sugar
• vanilla extract
• instant coffee powder or finely ground coffee beans
• chocolate chips

To start, we add the almonds to a food processor and do a quick pulse (maybe only 3-4 times). Now add the remaining nuts: walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. Do another few pulses so that you have various sizes and textures of the nuts/seeds.

Preheat the oven to 300. Now make the wet mixture or “syrup”. In a small saucepan, whisk together the coconut oil, cocoa powder, maple syrup, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, and coffee.  Bring the mixture to a simmer, then remove from heat. It should be thickened.

In a large bowl, add the nut/seed mixture with the coconut flakes. Top with the syrup and stir to coat everything.

Now spread out on a large baking sheet. Lining it with parchment paper is definitely helpful! Bake for 20 minutes, give it a quick stir, then bake another 15ish minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Toss in chocolate chips to serve, you can also toss in coconut flakes.

Serving/Storing:

Serving this recipe is the fun part. So many ways!!! If you are a cereal lover, enjoying with milk or dairy-free milk is a great option. It’s the way my kids have been devouring!

Also, eating plain. We stored this in an air tight container and munched non-stop! You can top your yogurt, even ice cream with this yummy chocolate-y goodness. Or on top of a bowl of fruit.

Recipe adaptations: 

The biggest adaptation is swapping out the nuts in this recipe. You can use any mixture of 3 cups of nuts: cashews, pecans, walnuts, almonds, etc.

You can also omit the coffee! For the record, this makes such a huge batch and has a tiny amount of coffee.