Crunchy Quinoa, Toasted Almond and Dark Chocolate Brown Butter Granola.
Longest recipe name ever.
But I couldn’t leave one thing out.
See, I’m all about the trendy quinoa because, uh, it’s… trendy. It also is my excuse for calling something with brown butter and chocolate healthy.
I can’t get enough of these honey roasted almonds from Trader Joe’s. I know I mentioned it on Wednesday but I am blowing through bag after bag. Last night my husband stopped at Trader Joe’s on the way home from work without me knowing and when he got home, I completely flipped out because I NEED THOSE ALMONDS. And OMG why didn’t he tell me. Why does he hate me and my almonds.
The brown butter should be totally self explanatory.
And well, the dark chocolate is full of antioxidants and therefore, a health food.
This granola probably has magic powers or something.
I have been on a granola kick lately and I’m pretty sure it began a few weeks ago when I woke up and wanted granola for breakfast. But was out. I craved it for the next few days, but was way too lazy to pick it up at the store. Which speaks volumes of my laziness considering I’m at the grocery store nearly twice every day because I make lists, leave lists at home and just ignore lists.
Seriously. I actually am embarrassed to see the grocery store employees these days because they have to think I am clinically insane.
Then again, they may not be all wrong.
I also am representing my generation very well.
Whatever. Granola.
I get asked all the time about my granola clumps. Here’s how I do it: I toss the granola a few times during the cooking process, as noted below. I remove it and let it sit for a few minutes until it’s slightly cooled, then I actually “scrunch” some together with my hands quickly and gently since it’s still sort of hot. I may fold in some chocolate at that point because… what the heck is granola with chocolate?
It’s nothing. That’s what it is.
The hardest part is waiting for it to completely cool. I mean – COMPLETELY COOL. I cannot stress this enough. If I am being an impatient brat, I may place the entire baking sheet in the fridge to speed up the process. Because god forbid I actually have to WAIT for something.
Once it’s totally cooled, it’s often a mixture of a few giant clumps, which I break apart, and some loose granola. I love that combination. It’s perfect with a few splashes of milk or swirled into yogurt or eating by a grubby handful out of a ziplock bag at midnight.
No idea how I know about that.
Crunchy Quinoa, Toasted Almond and Dark Chocolate Brown Butter Granola
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 cup toasted sliced almonds
- 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
- Add butter to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Whisk constantly until brown bits appear on the bottom, about 5-6 minutes, then immediately remove from heat and set aside. Stir in honey and vanilla extract.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds, quinoa, flaxseed, cinnamon and salt. Stir well to combine. Pour butter/honey over the oat mixture, stirring with a large spoon until the entire thing is equally moistened. I stir and even mix with my hands for about 5 good minutes. Spread evenly on the baking sheet in one layer. Bake for 10 minutes, toss and then bake for 10 minutes more. Toss again, then bake for about 10 more minutes, stirring every 3 minutes or so until the mixture is golden.
- Remove and let cool for about 10 minutes. At this time, I gently and quickly squeeze some of the granola together with my hands – I find that this helps it “clump” together. Pour chocolate chips over top and stir in gently. Let cool completely for at least one hour before eating.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Be sure to follow @howsweeteats on instagram and tag #howsweeteats. You can also post a photo of your recipe to our facebook page.
I appreciate you so much!
Granola for everyone!
106 Comments on “Crunchy Quinoa, Toasted Almond and Dark Chocolate Brown Butter Granola.”
Genius! Doing this! Hate oats, so quinoa granola is fantastic!!!
Great, an excuse to buy EVEN more honey roasted almonds at TJ’s. You are such an enabler. Might have to get past my quinoa aversion for his one. Baby steps. Baby steps that include chocolate…I am good with that.
This is so full of goodness! What a fabulous way to begin the morning!
Dark Chocolate Brown Butter Granola sounds like something that would be highly dangerous for me to even have around. Wow! And I can only imagine how good your house smelled while it was baking, too!
Definitely dangerous. One night and I’m sure most of it would be gone!
This looks super healthy, I may want to eat a cookie after
I am ALL OVER this Jessica! I honestly would not be able to stop munching it. love love love dark chocolate and almonds together. Oh and brown BUTTER. Ahh. I need to try quinoa in my granola soon!
Brown butter in granola? You rebel. This look even better with the slightly melted chips.
When it comes l forgetting your list – you should download te GroceryIQ app! It syncs your grocery list between all idevices with the same apple account (my iPad and iPhone sync to each other!). You rarely will forget your phone, so you always have your list!
And I love trendy quinoa too. Food fashionista.
Looks simply delicious!!! I have to try the quinoa in my granola! Love the idea!
Ahh waiting for granola to cool is SO the hard part!! I always want to start eating it when it’s warm and still slightly soft and it takes something really great to distract me from doing so. Love the pic of you pouring the milk over top!
I heart that you took healthy granola and covered it in chocolate and butter – perfect Friday breakfast! :-)
Love the idea of quinoa in granola! Double heatlthy! YES! :)
So I still have a whole bag a quinoa left over from those Tex-Mex Wraps and now I know what I am going with it.
This is freaking awesome. Especially the brown butter and especially the dark chocolate. Gosh, that just sounds like huge trouble.
Omggg those almonds will be the death of me!! They are so freaking addictive! I’m making granola ASAP with them so I stop shoveling them into my mouth straight from the bag.
BOOM! Now this is breakfast.
oh this looks incredible! I’d love to start my day with a giant bowl of this!
Oh yes. I’ve put raw quinoa in my granola, but never cooked! I’m so on it.
Thankyou for not putting fruit in your granola. Chocolate in granola is a much better idea. Looks yummy.
dear lord, I wish I was munching on this right now!
Brown butter and chocolate is a surefire way to get me to eat healthy! YUM.
Best granola combo everrrr! I love that people ask about your “granola clumps!”
Yea baby! This is my kind of granola!
Shut the front door. I need some!
This sounds like I need it immediately. I LOVE some good granola, and have bought the Kind brand with dark chocolate.. this sort of reminds me of that!
I think I’m heavy obsessed with those slightly melty chocolate chips!
This looks incredible! Putting it on my list to make for sure. Also, i feel you about the grocery store… None of the employees have actually said anything to me yet about how uncomfortably often I’m there, but they must be wondering what on earth I could need that I didn’t buy when I spent $100 there earlier in the day.
Wow… The word that comes to mind when looking at this is “totally seductive.” My goodness!
Thank you for sharing
WHAT. I’m making this immediately. Holy cow.
I maybe bought a bag of those almonds at TJ’s yesterday. and YES OMG THEY ARE GOOD.
Also, I just tried champagne vinegar and you should too. It’s soo acidic and sharp and wonderful.
Omg I’m a granola freak! I have a recipe that’s relatively low in calories but I think it’s important to have a recipe loaded with butter and chocolate in your repertoire, ya know, just in case of emergencies.
OH MY GOODNESS. I’ve been looking for some new granola recipes and I think I may have to whip this up really quickly…!
I weighed myself this morning, and in doing so, killed my spirit about eating anything delicious for the next 5 months.
But this… since it’s healthy, I think I should eat this for every meal for the next 4 months (last month I’ll survive on nothing but lemon wedges and sunshine).
What a perfect granola!! Love the addition of the quinoa
This looks terrific! I’m totally making this and I love that I have all the ingredients in my pantry right now!
I have a bag of quinoa that I bought with the intention of using… and haven’t. I think I know exactly what I’m going to do with it now! This sounds fantastic!
I don’t know how I feel about quinoa in my granola but you make it look so gooood! I just might have to give it a try. And now I’m having a chocolate oat craving. So thanks.
I’ve learned the hard lesson about uncool granola and really – honeybadger don’t give a rip cause warm (marginally molten) granola is just too goo to pass up. #lifelessonfail
‘See, I’m all about the trendy quinoa because, uh, it’s… trendy. It also is my excuse for calling something with brown butter and chocolate healthy’ HAHAHAHAHAH I love this! I just stumbled upon your blog and find you utterly HILARIOUS! Plus your recipes look super delish!
Oh my. My tummy started rumbling just looking at this post! Mmmm. On the to-try list!
i make granola w/ quinoa all the time but have never used cooked! will be trying. Thanks for sharing
感谢分享 很喜欢! 44
I haven’t seen many recipes with cooked quinoa in it- did the quinoa crisp up in the oven? I definitely want to try this one out soon. I am a HUGE granola fan!
This looks so good! Will make today!
This recipe looks amazing cant wait to try it!
Charm Kindred Spirit
Bringing love of vintage fashion, my photography and Diy trinkets to the free spirited at heart.
What’s better than homemade granola? Homemade granola with chocolate! I’m adding a stop at Trader Joe’s to my to-do for today!
I want this. NOW!
OMG, I could make this with gluten free oats. It’s like, TRIPLE health food!
OH my this looks delicious! I have tried many of your recipes lately and they have all been wonderful! And you now have the best sight to locate a recipe when looking for one from a recent blog post. It is so easy to search and find and keep enjoying your brilliant recipes. Keep them coming while cracking me up. LOL!
Who knew that granola could need a bit of scrunching, a la eighties hair. I think I remember how to do that. Beautiful pics and clever commentary as always Jessica. It is a pleasure to stop by your blog:)
I can see how this would be completely impossible to let cool!!!!