Peanut Butter Granola

After the oh-so-delicious but not-so-healthy raspberry cheesecake crepes I shared earlier this week, I thought I’d better even things out with a healthy (but still delicious!) breakfast recipe today.

I’d never tried making my own granola because there are so many tasty varieties you can just buy at the store. Also, I usually have a pretty good supply at home to use up because I stock up on Archer Farms granola at Target whenever I go to the States (if you haven’t tried Pecan Sticky Bun or Chocolate Chunk Hazelnut Biscotti, you’re missing out!) But one of the flavours I find to be missing from store-bought varieties is peanut butter, so when Ryan (a peanut butter lover) was coming up for a visit recently, I decided to surprise him with a healthy breakfast for a change.

I made this peanut butter granola the night before and had to try very hard to stop myself from eating it all that night – it’s soo good! The peanut butter flavour is definitely there, but isn’t too overwhelming. It smells absolutely amazing while it’s baking and tastes so good eaten warm out of the oven. But I managed to restrain myself and transferred (most of) it to an airtight container to have for breakfast the next morning, and several mornings after that (it kept well for a week, but I haven’t tested it any longer than that so I’m not sure how long it stays fresh in total).

We loved this granola as is, but you could also customize it with other mix-ins like raisins or cranberries, or add some mashed bananas to make it an “Elvis granola” like this one from Healthy Exposures (my sister has tried that recipe and loved it).

There are also lots of options for serving it. It’s delicious as a snack on its own, or in a bowl with some vanilla yogurt. I fancied it up a bit for Ryan and I by serving it in a breakfast parfait with vanilla honey Greek yogurt and peanut butter – see Chocolate & Carrots for an idea of what this looks like. I also sent some granola home with Ryan and he said he ate it with even more peanut butter mixed in, but I’d probably only recommend that for extreme peanut butter lovers!

Now that I know how easy it is to make your own granola, I can’t wait to try other flavours that you can’t buy in the store – pumpkin granola is next on my list!

Peanut Butter Granola

Adapted from Jif (as seen on All Recipes)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups uncooked rolled oats
1/3 cup unsalted roasted peanuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°F. Combine peanut butter and honey in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for about 30 seconds, until peanut butter melts. Stir the mixture until smooth, then mix in the cinnamon and vanilla.

Spray a large non-stick baking sheet with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper for easier clean-up after. Spread oats over the baking sheet and pour peanut butter mixture over top. Stir together until oats are evenly coated, and spread them out in an even layer. Leave some chunks of oats stuck together if you want chunky granola. Alternately, you could mix the oats with the peanut butter mixture in a large bowl before spreading on the cookie sheet – I just didn’t want to dirty an extra dish!

Bake for about 20-30 minutes, stirring at least every 10 minutes to make sure oats are evenly cooked, until granola is slightly browned. Remove from oven and mix in the peanuts. Let cool and store in an air-tight container.