I really love peanut butter and I also really love granola. And this granola also happens to have chocolate in it. This peanut butter granola is fantastically delicious. Since the first time I made it, I make sure that this is always made up in the cupboard.
There were several recipes that I found for peanut butter granola, but I wanted something pretty specific. I want it to not be too dry and I want it to involve just the right amount of chocolate. I also wanted it to be pretty healthy; no flour, so sugar.
The recipe that I found needed a little help. So I added more peanut butter, peanuts, and added flax seed and peanut butter powder. But the biggest change, that made the biggest difference was saving some of the wet to add in the middle of baking. This makes the granola just the right amount of peanut buttery in texture as opposed to dry.
One thing that I do in this recipe that is completely up to your tastes is when to add the chocolate chips. I add them right after they come out of the oven so that they melt and then cool with the rest of the granola. The reason I do this is because if makes the chocolate chips a bit softer. You can simply wait until the granola cools completely and add the chocolate chips then. Also, you can use whatever kind of chocolate chips you prefer. I use dark chocolate, because yum. Semi-sweet or milk chocolate will work too.
This granola is, of course, a big hit with my peanut butter and chocolate loving family. But I know it is a serious success when I made some of our favorite cookies of the same flavors, these Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. The cookies got eaten rather quickly, as usual. When my husband saw that they were gone he asked if we had any of this granola left because “it’s just as good as the cookies”. If that’s not a win I don’t know what is! A sugar free granola as good as cookies?!
Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup chopped peanuts
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed
- 1/4 cup peanut butter powder (optional)
- 1/2 cup (heaping) peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325 degrees.
- Mix oats, nuts, flax seed and peanut butter powder. Set aside.
- In small sauce pan, heat peanut butter, maple syrup, honey, vanilla and coconut oil over medium low heat until the ingredients combine. Reserve 1/3 cup and set aside. Mix the rest of the wet into the dry ingredients.
- Pour out on a cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Take out of the oven and pour the reserved 1/3 cup of peanut butter mixture on top and then mix. Bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Stir again and then sprinkle the chocolate chips over the granola.
- Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight container.
[…] especially pumpkin flavor. And I also love granola. As evidenced with these other recipes here and here (my husband’s favorite). I’m so glad that I was able to find a way to combine the […]