We Style-Examined 11 Manufacturers of Chocolate Granola—Right here Are Our Favorites

I can at all times depend on a spoonful of chocolate granola to energise me or spruce up my favourite ice lotions and yogurts. Whereas it is attainable to make your personal granola with cocoa powder and chocolate, I do not at all times have time. For that cause, I prefer to maintain a bag of store-bought chocolate granola in my pantry. With so many choices accessible, the query is: Which of them are value shopping for?

To seek out the easiest chocolate granola, our editors sampled 11 completely different manufacturers that you just’re prone to discover at your native grocery retailer or on-line. We caught to oat-based granolas flavored with chocolate. We poured every into bowls, then sampled them in random order with out figuring out which model was which. Some editors tasted the granolas two methods: plain and with milk. After crunching our method by 11 chocolate granolas, we tabulated the outcomes and topped an total winner, in addition to three worthy contenders that we might be pleased to eat for breakfast or atop a scoop of ice cream.

The Standards

Like all granola, good chocolate granola ought to be crisp and satisfying to snack on. It ought to have bite-size items which might be properly crunchy however not so brittle that they’re arduous to chew. It ought to be evenly toasted, however not excessively so—it shouldn’t style bitter or burnt. It is likely to be apparent, however chocolate granola ought to style chocolaty—and never in a chalky method. Although a contact of sweetness is welcome, it shouldn’t be cloying, and there ought to be simply sufficient salt to spherical it out. Retailer-bought chocolate granola would not should style freshly baked, nevertheless it should not style prefer it’s been sitting on the shelf for weeks or months.

General Winner

Cascadian Farm Natural Darkish Chocolate Almond

Everybody authorized of this granola’s crunchy texture. “No notes,” wrote Kelli, our senior social media editor, although she did go on to provide some very constructive notes: She thought the flavour was good, wealthy, and “harking back to chocolate cake.” Genevieve, our senior editor, thought that its taste was a bit musty when she tasted it plain, however she favored it higher with milk. Amanda, our affiliate visuals director, loved that the granola tasted as if there was “actual chocolate.” She’s not flawed—this granola does, in truth, include darkish chocolate chips.

Runners-Up

• Good and Collect Double Chocolate Chunk Granola
• NuTrail Darkish Chocolate Nut Granola

Our editors thought Good and Collect Double Chocolate Chunk Granola was the junk meals granola of the bunch, however they meant it in one of the simplest ways. The truth is, each taster liked this granola. “That is just like the Cocoa Krispies of granola—kinda junky but in addition good,” wrote Daniel, our editorial director. Kelli thought that it tasted like “Dutch course of cocoa,” which she discovered nice, however discovered it a contact too candy. Her closing verdict would please chocolate cookie followers: “For those who like Oreos, you may like this.”

“This actually feels extra like a snack combine than a granola,” wrote Kelli of NuTrail Darkish Chocolate Nut Granola. In the meantime, Genevieve loved the crunchy, appropriately sized clusters—not too huge and never too small—and their “chocolaty” flavors. Daniel thought it wanted salt, however did not thoughts the flavour total. Since this granola lacked oats, the sunflower and pumpkin seeds have been extra noticeable to Amanda. 

The Contenders

• Cascadian Farm Natural Darkish Chocolate Almond
• Good and Collect Double Chocolate Chunk Granola
• Grandy Organics Darkish Chocolate Sea Salt Granola
• KIND Wholesome Grains Gluten Free Darkish Chocolate Granola Clusters
• Kodiak Granola, Chocolate
• Michele’s Granola Cocoa Chocolate Chip
• Nature Valley Protein Oats ‘n Darkish Chocolate Crunchy Granola
• Nature’s Path Love Crunch Double Chocolate Chunk Granola
• NuTrail Darkish Chocolate Nut Granola
• Purely Elizabeth Chocolate Sea Salt Granola
• Dealer Joe’s Chocolate Espresso Granola

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Our greatest takeaway from this style check? Chocolate granola is scrumptious! The truth is, our editors gave excessive marks to almost all of the granolas we examined—our winner and the runners-up simply bought the very best marks.

Aside from one model, all of the chocolate granolas we tasted have oats as the principle ingredient. Most are sweetened with cane sugar, brown sugar, or coconut sugar. Many additionally contained oil and nuts and/or seeds. Some granolas include preservatives reminiscent of tocopherol, a type of vitamin E used to keep up freshness. 

To realize that signature chocolate taste, many chocolate granolas include cocoa powder and chocolate chips or chunks. Some granolas are made with cocoa powder processed with alkali—in different phrases, Dutch-processed cocoa powder. The chocolate chunks are generally made with sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and vanilla. Usually, our editors most popular granolas made with each cocoa powder and chocolate chips, which contributed a number of layers of chocolate. Our winner, Cascadian Farm Natural Darkish Chocolate Almond, comprises each darkish chocolate chips and cocoa powder.

Our editors discovered chocolate granolas made with cane sugar to be sweeter than granolas made with different sweeteners reminiscent of barley malt syrup and honey. Our tasters additionally discovered that granolas containing rice starch—an ingredient sometimes used to provide granolas a crisp texture—tasted barely stale and had muted chocolate notes, so we might skip that when buying granola for our personal pantries.

Our Testing Methodology

All style checks are performed with manufacturers fully hidden and with out dialogue. Tasters style samples in random order. For instance, taster A might style pattern one first, whereas taster B will style pattern six first. That is to forestall palate fatigue from unfairly giving anybody pattern a bonus. Tasters are requested to fill out tasting sheets, rating the samples based on numerous standards. All knowledge is tabulated, and outcomes are calculated with no editorial enter to offer probably the most neutral illustration of precise outcomes attainable.