Follow these steps at home to bake this mega clumpy and warmly spiced ginger molasses granola with toasty pecans, chunks of dark chocolate and tangy dried cranberries. With the perfect amount of sweetness from molasses and maple syrup (no cane sugar), it’s a simple vegan granola that’s ideal for gifting around the holidays (maybe with some homemade nut milk)! This recipe is inspired by the chocolate chunk ginger cookies in my cookbook, and the flavour combo really does make the best granola!
This festive recipe makes such a sweet gift! Molasses works so well as a sweetener in granola and it compliments those classic ginger cookie-style flavours so well. I take my base maple cinnamon granola, up the indulgence a little bit (because holidays!), add dried ground ginger, and replace some of the maple syrup with fancy molasses.
This ginger granola is for certified molasses lovers. You get those dark, very toasted caramel notes. By combining the sticky molasses with maple syrup, you get mega binding power and just the right level of sweetness. The fully cooled granola clumps are huge–almost like granola bars! The heat of the ginger comes through, and the warmth from cinnamon and ground cloves rounds it all out.
Getting a perfect bite of this with a granola cluster, chocolate chunk, and a tangy dried cranberry is just heavenly. It’s hard to stop eating! I find that the gentle heat of the spices keeps bringing you back in. I love to enjoy this by the handful or with cold nut milk. Your favourite yogurt would also be nice! Maybe with some chopped ripe pear?
I like to pack this into simple glass jars with a little ribbon for gifting. Other great granola recipes for homemade gifts: Grain-Free Chocolate Sea Salt Granola Hunks and Tahini Granola with Orange, Cacao & Mulberries.
Ginger Molasses Granola with Dark Chocolate
Ingredients
- 8 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup melted coconut oil
- ⅔ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup fancy molasses
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 ½ oz (100 grams) dark chocolate bar, chopped
- ½ cup dried cranberries
Notes
- Replace the pecans with pumpkin or sunflower seeds for a nut-free version!
- I use extra virgin coconut oil because of the amazing buttery taste it gives. It does have a bit of a coconut tang so if you aren’t into that, reach for grape seed, sunflower or even olive oil.
- This recipe will keep in a sealed container on the counter for up to 3 weeks.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place the rolled oats on a large parchment lined baking sheet (I use a full sheet pan size–2 half sheet pans is also great) and toast in the oven until fragrant, about 15 minutes. Remove the toasted oats from the oven.
- Lower the oven temperature to 325°F.
- To a large bowl, add the toasted oats with chopped pecans. In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the ground ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, salt, coconut oil, maple syrup, molasses, and vanilla. Pour this mixture over the oats and pumpkin seeds. Using a spatula, stir the oat mixture until thoroughly coated and evenly mixed.
- Transfer the oat mixture to your baking sheet, spread it out evenly, and bake for 40 minutes or so. Stir and flip the granola around a couple times throughout the baking process to promote even browning. The finished granola should be deep, dark, almost chocolaty brown and beginning to dry up a bit. Keep a close eye on it in the last 10 minutes of baking.
- Allow granola to cool thoroughly (it will continue to crisp up and dry out). Once completely cool, break up the chunks and stir in the chopped dark chocolate and dried cranberries. Store the cooled granola in jars or bags for up to 3 weeks.
My husband and I love granola, but we hate paying $$$$$ for store-bought granola that is full of junk. Other recipes we have tried are either too sweet or too time-consuming.
This recipe, however, is FABULOUS! I have now made it three times. The molasses and full cup of oil are the key ingredients: the molasses adds a lovely flavor that also tempers the sickly sweet in commercial granolas, and the oil provides the crunchy clumps. I use 85% organic dark chocolate and unsweetened dried blueberries instead of cranberries. The combination of cinnamon and cloves also gives the granola holiday aroma (though I’ll keep making this recipe well into spring).
I don’t have a full baking sheet, so I use two half sheets. After almost burning the granola in one of the sheets (both sheets won’t fit on one rack), I adjusted the baking time. First, after 15 minutes, I switched out the baking sheets, so that the bottom sheet went to the top rack and the top sheet went to the bottom rack. I repeated this process after another 10 minutes, and then just left both sheets in the oven for 10 minutes for a total of 35 minutes. This worked perfectly with my old oven.
Thank you for this wonderful granola recipe!
Delicious. Added some other nuts (pistachios, pumpkin seeds) in addition to pecans. Love caramelized, almost burnt, nuts in any form! I have the choc and cranberries to add, but am tempted to leave unadulterated, as it’s so good! Thank you!
Can I use less than 1 cup of oil? That amount just seems way too much, not to mention extremely high in calories and fat content. Would a 1/2 cup suffice? Can I use applesauce or juice in place of the oil?
Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for your question. Using 1/2 cup of oil should be fine. The granola will be less clumpy and crunchy.
Be well,
-L
I’m munching on this right now! I think I let it get just a bit too toasty, but luckily not enough to make it not-enjoyable. I wasn’t sure how “dried out” it needed to look or how it would clump up, so I pushed it a little past 40 minutes, but now I know to trust the recipe. I also have an incorrigible sweet tooth, so if I wanted to make this a little sweeter, what might I add? Brown sugar? More molasses?
Hi! You could certainly whisk some brown sugar into the wet ingredients to sweeten it up! Maybe 3-4 tablespoons?
-L
These flavors sound so good in granola form! I’ve been making the mega clump granola from you book on repeat the last two months. The clumps are unsurpassed! Can’t wait to try this one as well.
What kind of molasses do you use? I am in the Chicago area and we don’t get the Fancy brand around here. You don’t use a black strap molasses on this, do you? Just wondering what would be a good substitute! Thank you!
Hi Lauren!
I think the “fancy” grade might be a term that we only use here in Canada. Do not use blackstrap molasses. In the US, I recommend unsulfuphured or dark molasses. Grandma’s is a good brand: https://grandmasmolasses.com/product/original-molasses/
-L
I just wanted to a
tell you that I made it this at holiday time for my son who is severely allergic to peanuts/tree nuts. He just sent me a picture of the empty jar with the crying emoji lol! I am making another batch for him today! I just wante to let anyone who is interested know that this freezes very well! Also I think sunflower seeds tend to work a bit better than the pepitas. I love them but they seem to burn/dry out a but faster even though they are bigger. Thanks for a fantastic recipe! I really appreciate the recipes with nut substitutions!