Hazelnut Chocolate Sea Salt Granola

Audrey — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 19:44:44 +0000

I used to love Granola when I was younger, but I stopped eating it when I finally read the ingredients listed on most packages. Store-bought granola often has a large amount of refined sugar in it, and I decided I didn’t want to start the day off with a big breakfast bowl of sugar-filled granola.

So a few years ago, I started making my own granola recipes. I was spending hours picking the right nuts, oil and fixings to make it exactly how I like it and with minimal sugar in it.

Granola offers so many possibilities, and this recipe here has to be one of my favorites: a crisp oat granola with hazelnuts, chocolate and sea salt. It has a spoonful of chia seeds for added nutrients (omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and fiber) and only 3 spoonfuls of maple syrup to sweeten the whole batch.

How to make this Hazelnut Chocolate Sea Salt Granola recipe

This recipe starts by chopping the hazelnuts. You’ll want to chop them roughly so there is still some chunky pieces. I like to chop a few just in half, and the rest in quarters or big chunks. This creates a nice mix of textures.

The chopped hazelnuts are then combined with the chia seeds, sea salt, quick oats, maple syrup and oil. Finally, an egg white is added – this will help create a crisp, crunchy granola (that will stay crunchy for days).

Once all the ingredients are mixed and well coated, you will spread them onto a foil-lined baking sheet, in one even layer. This will bake for 30 minutes until lightly brown.

While the granola is baking in the oven, you can chop the chocolate. You can chop it roughly and keep chunky bites or more finely if you prefer – your pick!

Once the granola is baked and golden, place the tray onto a cooling rack and let it cool completely to room temperature. Once it is completely cooled, break the layer of granola with your hands – that’s the fun part. Try to keep some bigger clusters and break some smaller ones.

The final step is to add the chopped chocolate – this is why you have to make sure the granola is completely cooled, otherwise the chocolate will melt.

This recipe makes enough granola to fill a 750g jar. It can keep for up to 14 days at room temperature, if stored in a jar with a tight fitting lid.

Cooking notes:

For the oil, opt for a neutral oil (such as vegetable or canola), avocado oil or coconut oil.
Sea salt flakes (such as Maldon) work wonderfully in granola and really enhances all the flavors. If you do not have sea salt flakes on hand, substitute with kosher salt.
Semi-sweet chocolate works great in this granola mix. But feel free to choose the chocolate of your liking, such as milk chocolate, dark chocolate or even white chocolate… I think they all pair well with hazelnuts.
I often use a quarter sheet pan (13-by-9 inches) to create this recipe. The granola can be spread on the entire pan in a 1/3-inch (1cm) thick layer. You can also use a ½ sheet pan (18-by-13 inches / likely your regular cookie sheet) and spread the granola on only half of the pan.

I hope you’ll love Hazelnut Chocolate Sea Salt Granola as much as I do! It is a great recipe to add to your repertoire. Make it on weekends, so you can treat yourself to a delicious, satisfying and low-sugar breakfast all week-long.