The other day I was talking with a friend about how when we don’t feel like cooking dinner, frequently we eat cereal. Usually this cereal is store-bought, full of sugar, and mostly empty calories. Don’t get me wrong, I love a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch as much as the next girl, but sometimes I want something a bit healthier that still feels like a treat.
There are all kinds of granola recipes floating across the internet, but I love this one because peanut butter and chocolate is one of my absolute favorite combinations. For years, I had tried to make homemade granola and couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting the delicious, crunchy clumps. Then I found this recipe for trail mix granola from one of my favorite food bloggers and I learned some new tricks.
The first trick is that when the granola is baking, don’t stir! The edges may get a little more brown but they won’t burn. Then when you take the granola out of the oven, let it sit until it cools completely before breaking it into those delicious granola clusters. This is also when you’ll mix in any chocolate or dried fruit. Obviously putting chocolate in it when it goes in the oven will melt, but it took me time to realize that if you add dried fruit to granola before baking, it’ll become too crunchy.
Even though this peanut butter chocolate chip granola seems like a dessert, it’s actually naturally sweetened with honey and uses natural peanut butter. Other than the chocolate chips, it’s actually completely naturally sweetened and relatively low in sugar per serving. Plus you can always use gluten-free oat and dairy-free chocolate to make sure it meets all your dietary needs. Basically this granola is a health food and you should make it right now!
- 1 cup natural peanut butter
- ⅓ cup honey
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. salt
- 6 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a microwave safe bowl, combine peanut butter, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time until peanut butter is smooth and melted. Stir well when removed from microwave.
- Place rolled oats in a large bowl and pour peanut butter mixture over them. Stir until all oats are coated.
- Spread granola mixture on a rimmed baking sheet and flatten with a spatula. Make sure the edges of the granola aren't spread too thin or they will burn!
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
- Let cook completely before breaking into clusters. Stir in chocolate chips.
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