Paleo Chocolate Granola with Dried Berries
A few months ago, after a long-travel day to my sister’s, I was thumbing through the pantry for a snack when I came across a box of granola from Whole Foods called Love Crunch. It was chocolate and had little dark chocolate chunks and dried berries in it. I think I visited that cupboard ten times that night and ate every last crumb of that box of cereal.
While that granola isn’t completely unhealthy, it does have oats, rice, and a few other sweeteners in it that I try to avoid. I loved it too much to just let it go though, so here is my rendition. My friend who is also grain-free tasted it and told me I should name it Love Crack because of how addicting it is. I thought it fitting to share it with you in honor of this special day approaching that we celebrate love …. and our addiction to chocolate.
- ½ cup raw pecans
- 1/2 cup raw hazelnuts
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 1 cup raw walnuts
- ¼ cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1 tablespoon golden flax seeds (omit for SCD)
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 cup honey, melted
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons raw cacao
- 1-1/2 tablespoons vanilla
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt (plus 1 teaspoon for soaking water)
- ½ cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks (Enjoy Life is allergy free, or use homemade to avoid refined sugar)
- ½ cup freeze dried strawberries
- Soak all of the nuts in enough water to cover them and mix in 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover, and soak overnight, changing out the water one time. Soak the sunflower seeds in a separate bowl, following the same procedure as above.
- Drain the nuts and seeds and place on a paper towel to absorb the remaining water. Keep half of the sunflower seeds separate.
- Place all of the nuts and half of the sunflower seeds in the bowl of a food processor. Grind them until they resemble the size of oats.
- Melt the coconut oil, honey, vanilla, and cacao over medium heat until the cacao has dissolved.
- Add in the coconut oil mixture, cinnamon, and sea salt. Pulse until combined.
- Next, add the last half of the sunflower seeds and the flax seeds and pulse once or twice, until they are roughly chopped and mixed into the nut mixture.
- Remove the blade, then mix in the shredded coconut with a spoon. Turn the mixture out onto 3 parchment covered dehydrator trays. Spread it evenly into a thin layer.
- Dehydrate on 120 degrees for 24 hours, turning twice. The granola may feel a little sticky and wet when you first remove it, but will crisp up after cooling.
- Once cooled, stir in the chocolate and strawberries, and store in an airtight container for 2-3 weeks.
Dehydrating is my preferred method for making this granola, but you could probably bake the granola in your oven at it’s lowest setting for 2-3 hours, or until completely dried and free of all moisture. If you do, please come back and share in the comments how it turned out!
You may also like:
Comments
46 Responses to “Paleo Chocolate Granola with Dried Berries”Trackbacks
Check out what others are saying...-
[...] raw cacao powder, flaxseed, and nuts. Oh and I always keep a huge batch of my granola (vanilla or chocolate) on hand for snacking or a quick breakfast. I ditched the plastic bulk bags and filled a few [...]
Just curious….what’s the purpose of soaking the nuts in water? Could you make the recipe w/o soaking them?
Soaking the nuts and seeds breaks down the enzyme inhibitors that make it hard for our digestive system to process them. It also helps encourage the growth of positive enzymes which increases beneficial vitamins, makes them easier to digest, and enables your body to absorb the vitamins.
You can try doing it without soaking them, but they will probably not get as crunchy and may also not form clumps. I haven’t done it, so if you have success come back and let us know!
I miss having granola for breakfast, but this looks like the perfect solution. I need to give this a try soon before my husband eats all the chocolate in the house
My husband is a chocolate lover too! He can’t have strawberries though so this granola is ALL mine! I could make it for him with raspberries… but then I’d have to share!
I was too impatient to try the dehydrator (I wanted to eat it NOW). Even so, 3 hours at 250 in my temperamental oven, stirring once an hour or so, was just too long, it dried out but got much too dark. Hasn’t stopped me from eating it, but next time I’d use the dehydrator, or drop the temp in the oven as low as it would go.
One change I made to the recipe – because I am allergic to eggs, I omitted the egg white and added a generous tablespoon of chia, as well as the flax. It clumped nicely, but the more you stir it while baking, the more the clumps fell apart.
Caia! Thank you SO much for leaving your feedback for other readers. I haven’t tried it in the oven yet and I know a lot of people either don’t have a dehydrator or don’t want to wait! Nuts are so sensitive to heat, so I would definitely suggest the lowest temperature on your oven. Love the flax and chia “eggs.” I tried that myself, but was happier with the clumps the egg white gave. It is a great option though for a vegan version and definitely still tastes as good.
I tried this again and used ground flax + psyllium husk as a sub for the egg whites. I had to schmear it into the dehydrator trays with a spatula – maybe next time I will ease up on the amounts of egg substitute. It has another 16 hours to go in the dehydrator, but looks and smells promising.
Let me know about your experiments. I can’t have eggs too. I never thought about psyllium if using eggs as a binder. I may use this in other recipes! This would make a perfect snack for me!
The egg white is not necessary and I do not use it anymore. Deleting it from the recipe as we speak!
Just discovered your blog, love it! I just made a “granola” here, but next time I may soak my seeds. I’m still learning about that.
http://www.sewhomegrown.com/2012/02/chocolate-dipped-macaroon-granola.html
This recipe worked PERFECTLY for me when I baked it for 2 hours at 225 F. I turned it (gently) one time, halfway through the baking process. I added raisins (instead of freeze-dried berries) and cocoa nibs after I removed it from the oven, gave it a tiny gentle stir, and then let it crisp up and clump up as it cooled. Awesome!
Good to know it works in the oven Brianne! Love the cacao nibs!
I was a regular Love Crunch consumer before my celiac’s diagnosis and I made a batch of this yesterday and am in heaven! Thank you for re-creating one of my favorite snack foods!!
I made this, truly addicting! I used my oven at 170 and it took all day to dehydrated and get crispy. I cut the honey to 1/3 cup and added a 1/4 teaspoon vanilla stevia. I did not dry the soaked nuts on a towel first….probably the extra moisture there. With homade cashew milk, this is a dessert..and the tart freeze dried strawberries are a MUST!
This is one of my favorites but people rarely try it because it looks like a lot of work. So happy you enjoyed it!!
Danielle, how do you feel about me featuring this recipe on my blog with my own pics? I make this all the time and want it to get the maximu m exposure possible!
Hey Tessa- your photos and a link to my site instead of posting the recipe would be great!
Hi Danielle, my post is live! It sure was a fun one to shoot! Thank you!
http://www.tessadomesticdiva.com/2012/10/paleo-dark-chocolate-granola-w-berries.html
I want to try this and am wondering what brand raw cacao you use.
There’s a brand in my Amazon store that I love! Just click the Amazon icon on the right sidebar
Thanks. I found some and have a batch in my oven at 170 degrees. I’m going to be addicted…I can tell.
Just posted your link to my fb page: Blogger, Danielle, makes a comment of this being ‘Love Crack’. I just have to say, if you want a chocolatey, nutty snack make this to have on hand. Next time I will reduce the honey by half and see where I end up. Being grain free and low carb this tastes really sweet to me. Although, it may be just fine for you. I added a chopped bar of Endangered Species Dark Chocolate with Raspberries and one cup of crushed dried raspberries (on hand for my Raspberry Chai granola). OMG!!!! Ker-Powww! Freaking fantastic! Love Smack is more like it.
I made this except I used pumpkin seeds instead of sunflower and
almonds (I was out)- I baked it at 350 for 50 minutes
stirring once-Oh my gosh-soooo good. its like brownie crumbles
for breakfast.
thank you!!
well worth the effort, my child was delighted!
Just made this and it is wonderful. I did it in my oven on 170 with a metal spatula holding the oven door open a crack to let the moisture out. After 1.5 hours I flipped it all over and left it for another 1.5 hours. Then I turned the oven off and closed the door for another hour. It was perfectly done and when it cooled on the counter I was able to break it into good sized chunks. Thanks for the recipe…a great alternative to eggs almost every morning!
I just made this tonight and it is SOOO good I couldn’t help myself, I ate it for dessert. I did modify the recipe to use oats, since I’m not avoiding grains at this time, and then decreased the nuts a little bit to make up for it. I also decided not to soak since I wanted it for breakfast tomorrow before work. So I just baked it in the oven on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper for about 40 minutes. I think I should have taken it out about 5 minutes sooner, but still was delicious! I know, those are pretty major modifications, but thank you for the inspiration! I’ve been looking for a healthier way to get my chocolate fix. It’s been many years now since I’ve had normal breakfast cereal, but this reminds me of how I remember coco puffs!
Tonight I am making a second batch and doubling the amount because we all enjoyed it so much! Feeling good that I didn’t feel as ‘heavy’ as I usually do after eating grain granola. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe, we really are grateful for people like you paving the way for newbie Paleo’s like us. I’m now encouraged to try more of your recipes! Buon Appetito
I think somehow I am missing something. Your directions say to add egg whites but I don’t see it in the ingredient list that I just read through 3 times! Am I blind?!?
Oops no! I used to add an egg white to form large clumps but I recently found it’s not necessary and took it out of the ingredients. Must have forgotten the instructions! Thank you!
Hi Danielle
Pardon my bad english – i’m Danish
I made this granola today using a bit of licouricepowder instead of vanilla, since I’d run out of vanilla. I made it in the oven at 75 degrees celcius (I don’t know how much it is in fahrenheit). I turned it every half hour for 3 hours and it was a succes.
I really like your blog/homepage and look forward to trying out Manu more of your recipes.
Best regards
Anette
LOVE THIS! Made it last night and it finished up in the dehydrator this morning. TO DIE FOR! Going to try the pumpkin next. Thank you!
Is raw cacao necessary? I’m not even sure what that is or where to get it…
Any non-perishable food item can be found in my Amazon store, the link is attached below. Raw Cacao is necessary for this recipe, however if you do not like raw cacao I also have a vanilla almond granola!
http://www.againstallgrain.com/
Sorry if I missed this but about how many servings would you say this makes? Wondering about maybe making a double batch… know it’ll go quickly!
This makes about 4 cups! Hope you enjoy
Hi,
This looks amazing…Just wondering if there is a lower GI sweetener I could use than honey? I have to watch BS spikes and i’m afraid that much honey night do me in.
Thank you
Jessica
Not that would work as well, honey help bind everything together.
I’m making this now. I cut out the almonds b/c my hubby is allergic. I also only soaked the nuts for 2 hours b/c I’m impatient and I’m baking at 200 instead of dehydrating. BTW it’s like crack right out of the food processor. It’s soooo yummy. I also cut the honey. It’s very sweet. Also I bet if you added Peanut butter it would also be awesome. (not paleo I know) I’m wondering if you can form them into bars somehow. I’m so on the hunt for an all natural granola bar for my kids. I’m hoping they like this! I’ll let you know how it comes out.
Looks Fantastic! We will definitely have to try it out!
I´ve just had it for breakfast and it was DELICIOUS!!! I made it in the oven at 170º for 2hs and another half hour with the oven door slightly open. It could have been a little bit crispier if I had left it in an extra half hour I think…
Anyways, my husband had 3 bowls in a row, so I´m pretty sure is great still haha.
When you say “raw cacao” do you mean the powder? I’m new to the paleo world and last time I made something with powder when it called for “raw cacaco” it didn’t turn out very well. So I wanted to make sure before I waste all these nuts…thanks! Looking forward to trying it!
yes the powder. Cocoa powder unsweetened will work too
Holy Moses!!! I have been making your vanilla recipe this past month, and I LOVE it! But today, I decided to try the chocolate, and OMG!!! Total ecstasy!!!! lol I am in heaven right now, and I’ll be lucky if there’s any left before it finishes dehydrating. I made two batches lol.
Wow, i made this today and it is amazing! I also did the bake for 2 hours at 225′ and it worked like a charm.
Thank you!
Great, thank you!