Chocolate Banana Granola (GF + Vegan)

By Rachel Conners @bakeritablog

This Chocolate Banana Granola is super chocolatey with mashed banana and banana chips! This gluten-free and vegan granola makes a super addictive snack or breakfast.

Happy New Year 🎉 welcome to 2016! I know I’m a little late, but I thought we could all use a few days off from the real world to let 2016 settle in, am I right? My year started a little differently than expected, with a quiet night at home in San Diego instead of in the mountains like I had planned – but, hanging out with my dog and gazing outside to see the ocean, I can’t really complain.

I can confidently say I haven’t had a bad moment this year and I’m going to hold on to that for as long as I can. I have a good feeling about 2016 :) and how can I not, when the first thing I baked of the year was this chocolate banana granola?

I made this granola for my aunt, who I promise granola every time I’m home and don’t follow through on nearly enough, but it was surprisingly difficult getting it bagged and out the door after my dad tried it. I literally had to remove the pan from his hands, but that wasn’t before a ton had already been devoured.

I wasn’t much better – I was tasting it right out of the oven and kept grabbing pieces whenever I walked by as it cooled. It’s pretty irresistible. Granola is the one thing I pretty much constantly have in my pantry, and it’s rare for me to make the same granola twice – hence the eight granola recipes I already have posted. Granola, fruit, and Greek yogurt is my breakfast every. single. day. because I don’t like eggs (except in cakes + brownies) so my options are limited.

This is definitely one of my favorite granolas I’ve made, but I also got nutso for anything with banana and/or chocolate. The dry ingredients I used are oats, flaked coconut (not shredded), cashews, pecans, sliced almonds, unsweetened banana chips, and cocoa powder! You could totally use whatever nuts are your favorites – I just used what I had in the house.

The dry ingredients are coated in a mixture of coconut oil, banana, vanilla extract, and honey and then baked low and slow for an hour. After it comes out of the oven, I sprinkled on chocolate chips, let them melt, and stirred them in. This made these big ole granola clusters all held together by chocolate. I could not stop snacking on the warm, chocolatey granola…and subsequently ended up with chocolate all over my face. You’d be surprised at how much that happens.

Thankfully, the recipients also loved the granola, and that’s coming from my banana-hating cousin and my aunt who isn’t the hugest fan of chocolate…and my uncle’s praise? This shit is ridiculous. Prepare to snack all day long!

I’m seriously considering making another batch tonight. You should definitely do the same. Enjoy!

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Chocolate Banana Granola (GF + Vegan)   Save Print Prep time 10 mins Cook time 1 hour Total time 1 hour 10 mins   Author: Rachel Conners Serves: 6 cups Ingredients
  • 2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
  • 1 cup flaked coconut
  • ½ cup pecans, chopped
  • ½ cup cashews, chopped
  • ½ cup sliced almonds
  • 1 cup unsweetened banana chips, lightly crushed
  • ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1 ripe banana, mashed (about ⅓-1/2 cup)
  • ⅓ cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • ½ cup chocolate chips
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and grease with coconut oil.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the oats, coconut flakes, nuts, and banana chips. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, banana, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and cocoa powder.
  3. Pour the liquids over the dry ingredients and mix until all of the mixture is moistened.
  4. Spread it on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, stirring every fifteen minutes to prevent burning and get it all evenly browed.
  5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top while it's still warm. Let the chocolate chips melt, and then stir to combine. Let cool completely.
  6. Serve as a snack or as a topping for ice cream or yogurt! Store in a sealed jar or bag for up to a month.
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There's more where that came from!

  • Banana Coconut Granola
  • Chocolate Coconut Paleo Granola (GF + Vegan)
  • Paleo Granola
  • Coconut Macadamia Nut Granola (GF, Vegan, Refined SF)
  • Almond Coconut Butter Granola
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola