Healthy Cultured Chocolate Hazelnut Granola, My Favorite Smoothie Topping & Post Run Treat!

Who’s ready for another delicious homemade granola? I am so excited to share this Healthy Cultured Chocolate Granola recipe with you!

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I love making homemade granola. This one is actually a combination of two of my all ready famous granolas I have on my blog. I made this granola using the same method as this one but I turned it into a low sugar chocolately breakfast treat like this one by adding in cocoa powder and my favorite Hu Chocolate Gems.

The result is AMAZING. This mix has a nice tang, but it’s also sweet, but not too overwhelming. It contains just the right amount of chocolate flavor and is perfect for topping my smoothie bowls. I look forward to these almost every day after my run and workout!

I can’t wait for you to try it!

You’ll also notice if you’ve been following me lately, I enjoy using my sourdough discard to make healthier cultured baked treats, which includes granola. If you have joined me (and 1000’s of others) on the sourdough train, you may want to stop what you’re doing to make this granola!

Here’s what you’ll need~

• Organic Rolled Oats ~ I used these
• Sourdough Discard
• Crispy Nuts and seeds
• Coconut flakes
• Pink Himalayan sea salt
• Coconut Sugar
• Raw Cocoa powder
• Raw Local Honey
• Virgin Coconut oil
• Real Vanilla
• Hu Chocolate Gems
• Optional: Sea salt

This version of my Cultured Chocolate Granola is just as easy to make as my previous version. Once your oats and nuts are soaked and activated, all you need to do is stir in your Chocolate sauce.

To begin, combine rolled oats, gluten-free sourdough starter, 1/2 cup coconut oil, and 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup in a medium bowl. Stir well to fully incorporate all ingredients and then press down into bowl. The oats will not be completely saturated in liquid but instead should be moistened by the surrounding ingredients. Cover bowl and place in a warm spot in your kitchen. Let ferment for at least 12 hours.

If you’re nuts are not activated, you’ll also want to soak them using this method. My pantry is always fully stocked with an assortment of crispy nuts.

Next, in a saucepan, heat the coconut sugar, raw cocoa powder, maple syrup or honey, and coconut oil over medium heat. Let cook for 3-4 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved.

Turn off the heat and add the vanilla.  

Pour the saucepan mixture onto the oat mixture and stir until combined.

Next, pour the mixture onto your parchment lined baking sheets. Place in your dehydrator, or in my case a very low oven at 150 degrees for about 24 hours or until crispy.

Once fully baked, top with Hu Chocolate gems. Then, stick the pan back in the oven for 5 minutes, or until the chips are melted. Finally, stir the granola, letting the melted chocolate cover all of it.

Let cool for one hour before breaking apart.

Store in the pantry at room temperature for up to two weeks.

This is a winner! I love it on my smoothie bowls, but it’s a darn good healthy snack on it’s own too. Seriously the BEST post run treat!

HEALTHY CULTURED CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT GRANOLA WITH SEA SALT

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups sprouted rolled oats 
• 1 cup sourdough discard starter
• 2 cups finely chopped crispy nuts/seeds (I used hazelnuts, almonds, and pumpkin seeds)
• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 2 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar 
• 1/2 cup raw cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup local raw honey or maple syrup, divided
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla
• 1 cup Hu chocolate gems 
• optional: flake sea salt on top

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine rolled oats, gluten-free sourdough starter, 1/2 cup coconut oil, and 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup in a medium bowl. Stir well to fully incorporate all ingredients and then press down into bowl. The oats will not be completely saturated in liquid but instead should be moistened by the surrounding ingredients. Cover bowland place in a warm spot in your kitchen.
2. Allow mixture to ferment for 8-24 hours, depending on preference. A shorter fermentation period will create a barely detectable tang. A full day of fermentation will create a noticeable sourdough flavor.
3. If you’re nuts and seeds are not prepared in advance, place them in a bowl to cover with a bout 4 to 6 cups of staled water. After about 12 hours of soaking, drain and rinse.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 150 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Break up fermented oat mixture in the bowl with a fork. It will be slightly crumbly and a bit doughy.
5. Next, in a saucepan, heat the coconut sugar, raw cocoa powder, maple syrup or honey and remaining coconut oil over medium heat. Let cook for 3-4 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved.
6. Add this mixture to your soaked oats along with your nuts & seeds. Mix all ingredients well to combine.
7. Divide the granola dough between the two pans and spread out the mixture as thinly as possible. Use a spatula to create an even layer.
8. Place granola in the oven for 12 hours. Remove pans from oven after about 4 hours to break up the granola with a spatula. It will still be quite soft so just make sure that you are breaking up any large clumps and spreading it back out to continue to bake evenly.
9. Return the pans to the oven for a few more hours. After this baking period is up, remove pans from the oven and check the consistency of the granola. If it is dry and crisp, it is done cooking. If not, return it to the oven and check on it every 30 minutes until it appears done.
10. Allow it too cool completely on the pans before moving to an airtight container for storage.

---

Are you a dark chocolate fan? or Milk?

What’s your favorite post run treat?

How long does a batch of granola last you??