Loaded with oats, dried cherries, nutrient dense nuts and seeds and just a small sprinkling of chocolate chips this homemade granola recipe will make mornings so much more enjoyable!
Reinvent your favourite cake by turning it into a healthier breakfast option! This Black Forest Granola has all elements of the famous dessert but much less guilt.

Do you ever make your own granola? Or perhaps a better question is, do you like granola? Or maybe that’s a silly question…who doesn’t!
Homemade Granola Recipe
Granola in the morning is such amazing power food fuelled by oats, nuts, seeds and dried fruit. What a great way to start your day. It’s so simple to make and tastes much fresher and crunchier.
Another reason to make your own is you can choose just what to put in it! This batch was made at my husbands’ request (he is really trying to get healthy! ).
Given his love for Black Forest cake, I thought it would be fun to combine all the flavours of his favourite dessert in his morning granola. It’s full of dried morello cherries, hazelnuts and a little sprinkling of chocolate bits. Just to be on the naughty side.
What do you add to granola?
You can spruce up your granola with a many things that would add nutritional value.
- Bran
- Various nuts and seeds
- Hemp hearts
- Wheat germ
My favourite way to eat granola, which also happens to be a healthier way, is to sprinkle a couple of tablespoons over yogurt with some fresh or frozen berries.
This granola is SO good for you but can easily become “not-so-good” if you sit down to a huge bowl of it! Moderation is key.
Storage
Good news is this granola recipe will stay fresh for up to a month if kept in an airtight container. It’s one that can be made and eaten for a lot of breakfasts. But wait too long and the nuts can become rancid and the granola a bit stale.
More breakfast recipes using oats
Black Forest Granola
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 125ml/1/2cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 300g/3 cups rolled oats
- 30g/1/4 cup hazelnuts
- 30g/1/4 cup almonds
- 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 50g/1/3 cup dried cherries
- 3 tbsp chocolate chips or cocoa nibs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F In a large bowl whisk together oil, maple syrup, honey and vanilla. Add all the remaining ingredients except for dried cherries, combine and press the mixture into a parchment lined baking sheet (this way no extra fat is needed for greasing).
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Take it out and mix in dried cherries and chocolate chips, bake for additional 10 minutes.