Make this decadent chocolate berry banana granola today! Loaded up with seeds and gluten-free grains, draped in rich healthy chocolate sauce, and perfected with naturally sweet berries and bananas, this granola allows you to indulge without the guilt!
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Chocolate Berry Banana Granola: My Love Affair with Sweets
So if you’ve been following the blog for long, or if you’ve hopped around a bit, you’ve probably noticed a few striking patterns about our particular food obsessions. Cory absolutely loves spicy foods and especially the combination of sweet and spicy. If there are chiles or hot sauce involved, he wants it (Green Chile Popcorn, for example), and if he can mix fruit with those chiles (Mango Jalapeno Salsa or Hatch Peach Chile Salsa), well then so much the better. While I also very much enjoy a little kick to my foods and strongly spiced or flavored dishes, I’m the one, on the other hand, who is utterly, completely, and hopelessly obsessed with sweets.
Seriously, I’m the woman who eats too much birthday cake (because either Mom or Grandma made it, so it’s freaking insanely delicious), feels ill afterwards, swears off junk food or dessert forever (lols, I know, right??!), and then devours another piece of that same epic cake again for breakfast the next morning. Yep, that’s me and my relentless sweet tooth. Needless to say, willpower when it comes to eating isn’t precisely my forte, so I’ve instead shifted the kinds of sweets and chocolates I consume to more natural, less processed treats. This way, I can still indulge (still working on the more reasonable portions, but it’s about progress not perfection, right?) in desserts and sweet snacks without feeling the jitteriness, general ick, and impending crash of ultra processed, refined-sugar and dairy laden sweets.
Now I can have my cake (or chocolate berry banana granola snack!) and eat it too… you know, without feeling like total crap later. A few months back, I started playing around with granolas and recently posted an allergy-friendly, simple, and delicious Classic Healthy Chocolate Granola, which I regularly make and enjoy. I figured with this base, I could easily create new and exciting flavors by adding dried fruits, nuts, etc. Now, I’m excited to introduce you to my first variation: the healthy chocolate berry banana granola!
Chocolate Berry Banana Granola: Snack Perfection or Chocolate Breakfast Love
As evidenced by the cake-for-breakfast story, I can (and do) eat sweets at all times of day, and I definitely love starting mornings off with a touch of something sweet. This chocolate berry banana granola makes the perfect topping for yogurt or overnight oats on a rushed morning when you don’t want to take to the time to chop fresh fruit, or just pour yourself a bowlful of this decadent but healthy chocolate breakfast and eat it covered in milk!
As I mentioned in the original Classic Chocolate Granola post, this particular granola doesn’t have big sticky clusters of sweetness so much as smaller, evenly coated bites with chocolatey goodness on every piece, making it feel almost like a chocolate cereal. Of course, that means that with the addition of banana chips, dried blueberries, and dried cherries, this variation makes a fabulous and incredibly easy homemade berry and chocolate breakfast cereal. Just drench this chocolate berry banana granola mixture in your favorite milk, and enjoy!
If instead of breakfast, you’re searching for a healthy chocolate snack, look no further! I love taking trail mixes or snack mixes with me to work to stash in my desk for when I need that afternoon hit of healthy sweets, so I can empathize with your plight. Whip up a double batch of this chocolate berry banana granola for the perfect chocolate snack mix to avoid the afternoon slump!
Dried Fruit Heroes in the Chocolate Berry Banana Granola:
In the course of creating this chocolate granola snack mix, I found myself searching for the best and healthiest dried fruits, which, for me, means avoiding dried fruits with added sugar and oil whenever possible. After all, if the goal is to make healthier, more naturally sweetened desserts and treats, what good does it do us to load up the dried fruits with extra sugar and oil?
Dried Blueberries:
We had already discovered these fabulous oil-free, unsweetened dried blueberries, which I used my Lavender Lemon Blueberry Bites, and I freaking LOVE these blueberries. I snack on these perfectly sweet little gems straight out of the bag all the time, and they’re the only dried blueberries we buy now.
Dried Cherries:
Fortunately for us, this same company—Brownwood Acre Farms—also sells unsweetened dried cherries, which we also completely adore! As the name implies, these cherries tend towards tartness, but I actually love that bright and only slightly sweet flavor against the rich dark chocolate granola and the sweet bananas and blueberries. These cherries also make the perfect version of my No Bake Chocolate Cherry Brownie Bites.
Dried Bananas:
Dried bananas, on the other hand, have been trickier to find without added oil and sugar. In our local grocery stores, we can find the standard banana chips, but I know they aren’t great for us (I mean, come on, bananas on their own have plenty of sugar and sweetness!). Also, for whatever reason, we notice the local bulk bin banana chips often seem a little off (regardless of organic or conventional), almost like the added oil has gone rancid. Not the most appealing.
So far, our favorite find has been the Bare Banana Chips: nothing added, perfectly sweet, and crunchy too! This brand makes fabulous fruit snack options of various sorts, so check them out on Amazon. Using these chips in the chocolate berry banana granola does make it pricier, though, so if you’ve found a cheaper option (or want to make your own banana chips!), go for it! There are several brands of unsweetened banana chips on Amazon that have added oil but no added sugar at least, which is a step in the right direction for sure! Let us know if you’ve found a great dried banana option! Oh, and if you do want a softer dried banana option, Made in Nature brand does have these dried bananas that might be just the ticket for you to use in this berry banana granola!
Make this decadent chocolate berry banana granola today! Loaded up with seeds and gluten-free grains, draped in rich healthy chocolate sauce, and perfected with naturally sweet berries and bananas, this granola allows you to indulge without the guilt!
Do you occasionally eat cake for breakfast and constantly want sweets in your life too? Let me know in the comments below, and remember to subscribe to Our Sweetly Spiced Life for more tasty, healthy recipes, food finds, and occasional home DIY projects! You can also find us on Facebook or Pinterest, and you can always email me: Joelle@OurSweetlySpicedLife.com if you have a question or recipe request! As always, no matter where you are in life, remember to enjoy the journey.
, which I used my 
, which we also completely adore! As the name implies, these cherries tend towards tartness, but I actually love that bright and only slightly sweet flavor against the rich dark chocolate granola and the sweet bananas and blueberries. These cherries also make the perfect version of my 
: nothing added, perfectly sweet, and crunchy too! This brand makes fabulous fruit snack options of various sorts, so check them out on 
, unsweetened and oil free if possible, broken into smaller pieces
