How’s everyone doing with springing forward this week?! I still feel like garbage with the time change but waking up to this Chocolate Macadamia Nut Granola definitely helps! This granola is rich and chocolatey thanks to plenty of Dutch cocoa, chocolate chips, and sea salt flakes. It even has a hint of coconut to pair up with the macadamia nuts’ tropical vibes thanks to the unrefined coconut oil that’s melted right into the wet ingredients. It’s perfect for enjoying with yogurt, pouring milk on top, adding as a crunchy topper to smoothies, or just eating it by the handful!

When I lived in San Francisco years ago, I flew out to Hawaii a lot – usually once a month or every other month – and one of my favorite treats along with the poke, mai tais, and shave ice was always the chocolate covered macadamia nuts. I always had to get them when I was there and bring a few home. So when I was trying to figure out what kind of nuts to add to my chocolate granola, macadamia nuts were an obvious choice! You could of course use almonds, peanuts, or cashews instead if that’s what you’re into.

Here’s what you’ll need to recreate the Chocolate Macadamia Nut Granola at home!

• Rolled oats – Also called old fashioned oats, these are thick enough to hold up in granola and get nice and crisp when baked. Quick oats would turn to mush and not crisp up, and steel cut oats are much too tough to use here.
• Macadamia nuts – I went with chopped macadamia nuts for my granola, but you can take your pick of nuts for this recipe. Try to find nuts that are raw, but if you can’t, just keep a close eye on them while roasting so they don’t get too toasty or burn. I used dry roasted macadamia nuts, but had to pull the granola out of the oven around the 20 minute mark so they didn’t get too crispy.
• Cocoa powder – I recommend Dutch processed cocoa powder for pretty much all baking recipes. It gives you maximum chocolate flavor with the least amount of bitterness.
• Chocolate chips – I went with a semi-sweet chocolate chip, but you could use dark or milk chocolate instead if you prefer. I do recommend using full size chips rather than mini chips so they don’t completely melt away into the granola.
• Maple syrup – You need a thick liquid sweetener like maple syrup or honey to help everything stick together into granola clusters. I do not recommend subbing this out with granulated or brown sugar.
• Coconut oil – Because I went with macadamia nuts for this recipe, I also used an unrefined coconut oil to bring out just a hint of that coconut flavor in the baked granola. It’s almost tropical 😉 If you’re allergic to coconut, you could substitute this with cocoa butter or vegetable shortening like Crisco. A neutral tasting oil would likely work as well, but I can’t promise since I haven’t tested it.
• Almond butter – I opted for almond butter instead of peanut butter for the more neutral flavor, but peanut butter would be super delicious here too!
• Brown sugar – Although the brown sugar melts into the syrup and oil, I wanted some additional sweetness without adding more liquid in the form of maple syrup. Plus, the brown sugar brings another layer of flavor! Light or dark brown sugar will work here.
• Espresso powder – Instant espresso powder helps deepen the chocolate flavor of the granola. You could skip it, but I don’t recommend that.
• Vanilla extract – Vanilla bean paste would also work really well here.
• Flakey sea salt – Don’t skip this! The flakey salt really helps bring out the sweetness and rich chocolate flavor of the granola.

Be sure to sprinkle the sea salt onto the granola after it bakes and while the chocolate chips are nice and melty! This helps ensure that it sticks so you get that amazing chocolate + sea salt combo in every bite.

Recipe