Chocolate Granola Bark (Gluten + Nut Free)
Sweet, salty, and full of chocolate you are gonna love this chocolate granola bark! Simple ingredients and endless ways to customize. Top 9 allergy free!
This chocolate granola bark is the best combination of sweet chocolate, crunchy granola, and sprinkled with a little flakey salt to just take it to the next level.
Free from: Wheat, gluten, dairy, casein, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, mollusks, celery, corn, sesame, mustard, lupin, sulfites, nightshades, tomatoes, and more
Based on my beloved gluten and nut free granola recipe, I am so excited to share this chocolate granola bark with you! It’s perfect for packing into lunch boxes for a sweet treat and makes for a great snack anytime.
In the mood for more granola? Check out my nut free pumpkin granola and nut free no bake granola bars.
Why You’ll Love this Granola Bark
- Made with super simple ingredients
- Easy to make
- Safe for schools and work
- Perfect snack
- Gluten free, Dairy free, Egg free, Nut free, Vegan, and more!
Ingredients
You only need a few things to mix up a big batch of this chocolate granola bark.
- Chocolate: A good quality chocolate is a must for this recipe! I used Enjoy Life Ricemilk chips but you can use your favorite chocolate bar or chocolate chips.
- Sunflower Seed Butter: This helps to really make the chocolate layer rich and thick, plus, it makes it taste like a sunbutter cup! I like to use SunButter or Trader Joe’s has a great simple one.
- Oats: Use rolled oats for this granola. Steel cut or instant oats won’t work.
- Applesauce: For sweetness and to help the granola cook.
- Sugar of choice: You can use either brown sugar, maple syrup, or coconut sugar in this recipe. I typically use brown sugar but all of the suggestions are delicious.
- Cinnamon and Vanilla
- Flaky salt
Allergy Substitutions
Make sure that the oats you use are certified gluten free if you need them to be! I really love Bob’s Red Mill gluten free oats and have used them for years. Trader Joe’s also sells a big bag of gluten free oats as well.
Use your favorite chocolate to melt for this recipe. I typically reach for a vegan based chocolate from Enjoy Life. But you can also use your favorite brand.
Vanilla extract can often hide allergens, especially wheat and corn allergies. For my favorite allergy friendly vanilla, try Singing Dog Vanilla, found on my shop page!
Variations
- Chocolate Cherry Granola Bark: Add ½ cup of dried cherries to the granola after baking.
- Chocolate Apricot Granola Bark: Add ½ cup of chopped dried apricots to the granola after baking. Add shredded coconut if you aren’t allergic.
- Chocolate Nuts and Seeds Granola Bark: Add sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or your choice of nuts to the granola after baking.
Instructions
For the full instructions, complete with recipe measurements, please see the recipe box below.
Making this treat couldn’t be easier!
First up, make the granola. Then, melt the chocolate, combine them both, and let it rest. Easy peasy!
To make the granola, start by prepping a baking tray with parchment paper or a non stick mat. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, applesauce, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Mix until all the oats look coated.
Spread onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Stir the granola once at about the halfway point. Let the granola cool completely before moving onto the next step.
After the granola has cooled, prep the container that the bark will set up inside. Line an 8×8 baking dish (or something similar) with parchment paper. Sprinkle a little flaky salt on this as it will become the top when finished.
Next, melt the chocolate in a microwave heat-safe bowl, or in a double boiler on the stove over low-medium heat. Mix it constantly making sure the chocolate doesn’t burn. Stir in the sunflower seed butter (or your chosen nut/seed butter) and mix until totally smooth.
Tip! Make sure that the sunflower seed butter (or any butter that you use) is room temperature. Cold seed butter can cause the hot chocolate to seize up.
Transfer the chocolate sunflower mixture to the prepared pan. Gently rotate the baking dish to ensure the entire pan is covered in chocolate.
Now, while the chocolate is still warm, sprinkle the cooled granola on top. And that’s it! Let it cool and set in the fridge for a few hours, remove it from the tray and slice into your bark pieces. Enjoy!
If you are making one of the variations for this granola bark, add in the extra ingredients into the cooled granola before sprinkling it on top.
How to Store
Keep this granola bark in an airtight container on the countertop for 2 days, in the fridge for 5 days, or until it is totally eaten.
You can freeze this after making and slicing into the pieces. Wrap it up in a freezer safe container and store for up to 2 months. Let it rest in the fridge for a few hours before serving after freezing so you don’t hurt a tooth.
More granola recipes to love
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Equipment
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
- mixing bowls
- mixing spoons
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- 8×8 baking dish (20x20cm)
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sunflower seed butter any nut or seed butter that you like
- 1 cup chocolate chips vegan
- Flakey sea salt
- 1 cup oatmeal gluten free
- 2 tablespoons applesauce unsweetened
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar can swap for coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Prep the pan. Line an 8×8-inch (20×20 cm) baking dish or other container with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Make the granola. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oatmeal with applesauce, sugar of choice, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Place onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes at 350°F/175°C. Let cool completely before moving on.
- Melt the chocolate. In a microwave safe bowl, or in a double boiler on the stove over low heat, melt the chocolate until smooth. Add in the sunflower seed butter (or nut/seed butter of choice). Stir until smooth and combined.
- Assemble. Sprinkle a layer of flakey sea salt onto the bottom of the baking dish. Carefully pour over the melted chocolate. Smooth it out into an even layer. Sprinkle the granola over the chocolate into another layer. Set aside to cool, about 2 to 3 hours in the fridge. Using a sharp knife, cut into pieces. Enjoy!
Notes
- Slicing Instructions
- To get 24 pieces, cut into thirds and then cut 7 triangles per third slice.
- Allergy Substitutions
- Make sure that the oats you use are certified gluten free if you need them to be! I really love Bob’s Red Mill gluten free oats and have used them for years. Trader Joe’s also sells a big bag of gluten free oats as well.
- Use your favorite chocolate to melt for this recipe. I typically reach for a vegan based chocolate from Enjoy Life. But you can also use your favorite brand.
- Variations
- Chocolate Cherry Granola Bark: Add ½ cup of dried cherries to the granola after baking.
- Chocolate Apricot Granola Bark: Add ½ cup of chopped dried apricots to the granola after baking. Add shredded coconut if you aren’t allergic.
- Chocolate Nuts and Seeds Granola Bark: Add sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or your choice of nuts to the granola after baking.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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Is the oatmeal in this recipe actually cooked oatmeal or just the raw oats (rolled or steel cut)? Thanks!
Both are used. The recipe starts with baking the uncooked oats to make a granola. Then, you sprinkle those cooked oats over top of the chocolate to make the bark. If you wanted to save some time, you can use an already made granola to sprinkle over top. I know that a lot of people have different allergies so I wanted to first make a nut/soy/seed/etc free granola to use. But if you have a store-bought brand you love, you can skip right to melting the chocolate and sunbutter together!