Cherry Chocolate Chai Granola Parfaits

A warmly spiced granola finds sweetness from chunks of chewy dried cherries and nuggets of dark chocolate. Alternate with layers of vanilla Greek yogurt in a parfait glass for the perfect breakfast treat!

Making your own granola is a really wonderful thing to try in January when people are in that post-holiday/lightening-up that inevitably comes at the beginning of the year. Like many homemade treats, it’s reassuring to be able to control oil, salt, and sugar when you make granola at home so that you can really feel good about adding it to greek yogurt for breakfast. The sweetness in my Cherry Chocolate Chai Granola comes from the dried cherries, chunks of dark chocolate, and the honey added into the oats–no additional sugar added. It’s just enough sweetness to balance out the warming spice of the chai spice mix, which is so toasty and warming on its own.

Chai spice mix is a really versatile seasoning and can be used in so many things other than just your traditional chai tea latte. I’m seeing it in cookies, muffins, as a spice rub for meat, you name it. I knew it would translate well to granola because of the heavy amount of cinnamon in it. This smells absolutely amazing while it’s in the oven from that spice mix. Seriously–move over freshly baked chocolate chip cookies at your next open house–it’s all about the chai spiced granola.

This granola would make such a lovely Valentine’s gift for friends or teachers, and I love the little sparks of red dried cherry throughout. The little bits of chocolate make it perfect for the holiday. This would also be amazing without the chocolate if you’re looking for something a little less sweet in the mornings.

Granola is a great thing to have on hand for both breakfasts and snacks. I love eating it by the handful for a little pick-me-up in the afternoon. But it could go great in a parfait or over greek yogurt for an easy breakfast. This would also be delicious just with a little milk added on top in a bowl.

To make the granola, just whisk together the oil, honey, and vanilla in a big bowl. Make your chai spice mixture and then add that in to the oil and honey mix. Add in the oats and nuts. Make sure everything is really evenly coated and dump it all on to your prepared baking sheet.

The one trick to making the granola and getting those famous clumps is to press down on the oats in the pan. I pressed my down using a spatula on three separate occasions–first when you initially spread the granola out on the pan. Then bake it for 10 minutes and mix up the ingredients on the pan. Then this is the second time I pressed it down. Bake it for another 10 minutes and then pull it out of the oven. This is the final time I pressed down a bit on the oats. You will want to let the oats cool on the pan completely. Once cooled, transfer them to a bowl to add in the dried cherries and chocolate. Because of all the pressing, the oats literally came off the baking sheet like one big sheet. I just crumbled them up into the bowl. I like granola that has some clumps like this, but if you’re less obsessed with the clumps, you don’t need to worry as much about pressing down on the granola when it’s on the sheet pan.

To make the parfaits I showed up top, just simply alternate between vanilla greek yogurt and granola layers in a parfait glass. These are a really lovely Sunday morning treat and would be so sweet to make for loved ones on Valentine’s Day. They’re sort of a perfect combo but they look so fancy in the glasses.

I can’t wait for you to try my Cherry Chocolate Chai Granola! It’s totally addictive and a real winner.