{Easy} Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola

{Easy} Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola: This easy granola recipe is packed with pure, unadulterated peanut butter flavor! 

Isn’t it funny how things you hated as a kid are now things you absolutely love?

Like sleep, for example. As a kid, I hated going to sleep. These were precious hours being wasted away by doing nothing when they could have been spent playing with barbies, watching The Fox and the Hound, or re-enacting American Gladiators outside with my brother and sister (more like they re-enacted American Gladiators while I twirled around in my inspired outfits of hot purple leggings with matching jellies. I was the poster child for early 90’s fashion).

Of course, as soon as I got older, I realized that the body actually needs sleep to function. And once I hit college, I began to appreciate sleep like I never had before. Sleep is awesome, to put it mildly.

Similarly, as a kid, those Honey and Oat Granola Bars in the green package were not thrilling in the slightest. They were the messy thing given away at the end of soccer games that I usually tossed aside into my soccer bag, leaving them to their own fate of being pulverized by my cleats.

Boy, was I wrong. Those bars are good.

At college, all freshmen students were required to have a meal plan, which I did not mind in the slightest. In fact, I can thank my coffee addiction in part to this meal plan (and in part to Gilmore Girls). I can also thank my love for those granola bars to this meal plan.

A couple of the to-go meal places on campus offered fruit and granola bars as part of the meal, and since they came included, I always grabbed a couple to have on hand. And after a day of back-to-back-to-back classes, work, and papers up the wazoo, those granola bars never sounded so good.

I soon became hooked. And when they offered the peanut butter ones? Straight highlight of the day. It’s the little things in life.

So, this granola? Yeah, this granola is a dead ringer for those peanut butter granola bars.

This crunchy granola begins (and ends) with eight ingredients: oats, peanut butter, honey, almonds, peanuts, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and cinnamon. But, the best thing about this granola is that you can make it to your liking. If you don’t have maple syrup on hand, just add more honey. If you don’t have a thing for almonds, get crazy and use all peanuts instead. Make it your own.

And the best part of this granola? It all goes into one bowl. Once it’s mixed together, all you need to do is spread it out over a baking tray, and bake it for a half hour, making sure to stir the granola around every ten minutes or so.

Once it’s cooled, eat it plain, mix it with chocolate chips, or add it to yogurt. You could even top it on these peanut butter pretzels brownies…the health benefits of this granola totally cancels out the calories of the brownies.

Print

{Easy} Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

This homemade crunchy peanut butter granola is so easy to make and tastes better than store bought! 

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: peanut butter granola

Servings: 3 cups

Author: Michelle

Ingredients

Granola

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp peanut butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts, I used honey roasted, but feel free to use plain
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or non-stick foil. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together peanut butter, honey, and maple syrup. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds or until the peanut butter begins to melt.
3. Add in oats, peanuts, almonds, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Stir thoroughly.
4. Spread granola mixture evenly over the baking sheet.
5. Bake for 10 minutes. Take the granola out of the oven, lower the oven's temperature to 325, and stir the granola around. If there are any large clusters, use your spatula to break them into smaller pieces. Bake for an additional 20 minutes, making sure to stir the granola around again at the 10 minute mark.
6. Allow to cool 30 minutes before storing in an airtight container or ziplock bag.
7. Enjoy!