Making a family favorite at home is enjoyable with this homemade ginger ale. It has a slightly different flavor than the brand-name products, but it is still much superior. Above all, remember to have fun and be adventurous! If you like, try adding fruit extract.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Servings: | 14 |
| Yield: | 3 1/2 cups |
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper (Optional)
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups rolled oats
- ¾ cup chopped almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
- Combine brown sugar, maple syrup, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, salt, cayenne pepper, and cocoa powder in a bowl. Whisk thoroughly. Add oats and almonds. Toss and smear the mixture together using a spatula until well coated. Spread mixture evenly over a silicone-lined baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Toss granola with a fork, breaking up any clumps to get a finer texture. Continue baking until desired texture is reached, 30 to 60 minutes more. Sprinkle some granola onto a plate; if it clinks, it is ready. Turn off the oven and leave granola inside the oven to dry and cool to room temperature.
- I used Guittard(R) Cocoa Rouge, a Dutch-process cocoa, which has a lower acidity than regular cocoa.
- If you want a stickier granola, that will more easily clump together, you can up the brown sugar and maple syrup a bit, as I used the bare minimum in this recipe, but I think it’s plenty sweet enough, especially if you’re a fan of dark chocolate.
- Accessorize this as you see fit. Coconut flakes are an obvious choice, as are other usual suspects like dried fruit, any and all nuts, and assorted seeds.
Reviews
I’ve made this and versions of this, many time over now. This is a delicious treat. One of my favorite granolas!
I found this recipe in 2020 and have been making it at least once a month for over three years! I use pecans, a little less salt and add mini chocolate chips at the end. One of my favorite recipes ever!
This was exactly what I was looking for in a chocolate granola recipe! I left it a bit chunky so I could just eat it as a snack but it is delicious with berries and milk. I will try adding a teaspoon of instant coffee to the next batch. Thank you for an outstanding recipe.
Bravo! My family ate the entire portion. We poured milk over it, a great breakfast! Next time I’ll triple the batch.
Been trying to get rid of the oatmeal but hate throwing away stuff. The magic of chocolate transform what has been stash in the pantry for months to family favorite!! The recipe is so easy to follow. I use melted butter and add hazelnut along with almond. Add a dash of cinnamon and salt to balance the sweetness.
Perfectly simple recipe, I kept mine in for 50 minutes and let it cool in the oven. I used dr oteker’s cocoa and it was slightly bitter so it might be worth mixing in another brand.
Great Taste, simple to make.
Good. The amount of sugar gives it a good crunch, I may try reducing it a tad, overall very good granola.
I used almond flavor, and added a tsp of cinnamon. It was delicious. My family and friends were snacking on this rather than dessert.
My daughter loves chocolate granola, but her favorite has been sold old at our store. I will never buy it again. This is absolutely delicious!
Tasty and easy. Added shredded coconut; also used melted coconut oil. Might reduce the brown sugar next time though since we already have enough sugar in our diets. 🙂
Brilliant!! I was looking for a recipe similar to the spicy chocolate granola Sprouts used to sell in bulk. This is exactly the same. Very forgiving – my splooshing wasn’t as good as photos- and I really amped up the cayenne as that what is so good about this granola, IMO. Thanks!
This is an amazing granola recipe. I’m going to try it with almond milk for breakfast. It tastes really good by itself too. It would be great for a yogurt parfait too
I added coconut, flax meal and peanuts, just a bit more cocoa and stevia. A delicious and nutritious recipe!
I was looking for something akin to Cocoa Krispies and this was pretty close. I didn’t use Cayenne. The final result seemed really salty so I might cut that in half next time. 5 stars to the hilarious video though. Thanks for the laughs.
This recipe is FANTASTIC!! I did think it was a bit too sweet the first time I made it, so I cut the brown sugar to 1/4 c. It could probably be cut back a hair more, but I didn’t want to incite a riot in my house. I share this recipe with whomever I know would enjoy it. I do leave out the pepper, sorry, Chef John. 🙂 I also use coconut oil. I can’t count how many times I have made this recipe, and I always make a double batch. Thank you for the recipe.
This granola was good, but it’s you want to add fruit, don’t mix it in, add it after baking.
This is easy to make and has a great flavor! Makes a great cereal too, I had it with almond milk. Going to have it for breakfast 🙂
Sooooo yummy!! I didn’t have maple syrup on hand (Canadian-I know,very sad.) But I opted for corn syrup instead and it came just as yummy! I added chocolate chunks from the Chipits bagged collection,since chocoholicism runs deep in our veins 😛
Uh oh! So awesome! Substituted Splenda for brown sugar, but still used maple syrup. Al so used the coconut oil mentioned in the video. Cayenne! Next time I’ll try 2 dashes! Heading out to get yogurt for tonight’s parfait.
The first granola I ever made and it was very delicious. Just a bit too sweet for my taste, will reduce the amount of sugar and syrup by a litte next time.