Has anyone else made homemade granola before, but it didn’t stick together and form clusters? I definitely have. A lot of vegan granola recipes don’t hold together well at all, which is unfortunate because the clusters are the best part in my opinion! Well today, I have a super easy recipe that will make the biggest granola clusters you’ve ever seen. These Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Granola Clusters are vegan & gluten-free. Totally perfect for grabbing and munching.
What’s great about these granola clusters is they’re pretty healthy and can be made oil-free if you’d like. This granola can be snacked on by itself, eaten with non-dairy milk, or put ontop of some yogurt.
The Ingredients
This granola uses less than 10 ingredients with a few optional add-ins. It’s possible that all the ingredients are already in your pantry too! The ingredients are:
Oats
Almond Butter
Cocoa Powder
Brown Rice Syrup & Maple Syrup
Slivered Almonds
Vanilla
Cinnamon
Coconut Oil
What’s great about this granola vs other recipes is that it actually holds together! The main ingredients in non-vegan granola that help form clusters are honey and some type of fat like butter.
Instead of honey, this recipe calls for brown rice syrup. Brown rice syrup is much stickier than maple syrup or agave syrup. I don’t recommend only using maple syrup, as the granola pieces may fall apart easily.
Another key ingredient that helps this granola hold together is almond butter. You can use any brand, but I really like Justin’s Almond Butter. It’s made with only 2 ingredients and tastes absolutely delicious. In this recipe, you’ll want to melt your almond butter if it’s not already on the runny side. I do this by popping it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time on high.
Substitutions
Coconut Oil: If you’d like to omit the added oil from this recipe, I recommend subbing in the same amount of almond butter. So in this case, add in another 1 tablespoon of almond butter.
Brown Rice Syrup: I don’t recommend omitting this ingredient. If you don’t have this, you could try substituting in corn syrup (although it is less healthy). I don’t recommend substituting the same amount of maple syrup, as it is not as sticky.
Almond Butter: You could definitely substitute any other nut butter here. Peanut butter or cashew butter would still make clusters, although the flavor of the granola will change.
Super easy, vegan, and gluten-free with an oil-free option, these dark chocolate almond butter granola clusters are perfect for healthy snacking! They’re crunchy and grabbable with just the right amount of sweetness. You can store this granola in an airtight container for about a month.
If you’re on the hunt for more easy vegan breakfast recipes, check out these:
Fluffy Maple Pecan Pumpkin Pancakes
Chocolate Almond Butter Granola Clusters (Vegan & GF)
These Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Granola Clusters are vegan & gluten-free, and totally perfect for grabbing and munching.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
- ¾ cup almond butter
- 1 tbsp melted vegan butter or coconut oil, optional (sub 1 tbsp more almond butter if not using)
- 1/4 cup brown rice syrup
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- ¼ cup slivered almonds
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp almond extract, optional but recommended
- ½ cup chocolate chips, optional
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- In a large bowl combine all the ingredients except the chocolate chips. Stir together until all the oats are evenly covered in the almond butter and the syrups.
- Transfer the mixture to a greased baking pan.
- The granola will naturally form clusters, but if you'd like even larger pieces roll about 1 tbsp of the mixture at a time together to form balls.
- Bake for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through.
- Let cool completely.
- Once cooled, stir in the chocolate chips if using.
- Store in an airtight container.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 286Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gSodium: 12mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 7g
Nutritional information is an estimate.
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