Peanut Butter Granola
Now here is something you may find useful (and downright tasty). A super simple granola recipe that will knock your socks off!
As you can probably tell, most of my recipes feature similar ingredients, especially in the desserts and breakfast department. This is mainly because these items are what I consider to be my pantry staples including peanut butter, maple syrup, cocoa powder, honey, oats, and a range of spices (just to name a few). I personally dislike going out of my way to buy ingredients I know would end up unused for months, leading to the likes of my garbage bin towards their use by date. So to avoid this, I purchase long life items that are both cheap, tasty and easy to use in my cooking. Simply put it, I prefer to cook using ingredients from my pantry.
I love granola. I don't know why, but something about those little crunchy clusters get me so excited for breakfast (I'm a confirmed weirdo I know). But trust me on this. You'll be making batches of these golden goodies for yourself and your friends. I think these make lovely gifts. Who doesn't love edible gifts?
There are so many variations of granola, so please go ahead and experiment! The whole point of this blog is for you to get inspired and take charge of the kitchen. Recipe creation is a skill, but you really don't need to take cooking classes to be a chef whiz. Just learn from cookbooks, blogs and youtube videos. If you're willing to learn, you'll not only better retain the information, but you'll be motivated to give it a try. What could you possibly lose by doing so?
I've always loved the idea of creating recipes from anything I can find in the fridge and pantry. This granola recipe is of no exception. I saw a similar recipe on a youtube video a few years ago and really wanted to try it out. But instead of going to the supermarket and buying the ingredients, I had a look to see what I had on hand. I had the core ingredient (rolled oats), but not every other fancy item that was featured in that video. So I decided to just try my luck and create my own with whatever ingredients I had in the pantry. I guess it worked? Well here I am featuring my own recipe!
You really don't need expensive ingredients to make this recipe. I just so happen to have had coconut oil in the pantry at the time, but wouldn't normally purchase it often. Same goes for maple syrup. You can use olive oil, canola oil or even melted butter. Just along as you have an oil base for the granola to have that signature golden look and crunch. As for sweetness, you can opt for honey instead of maple syrup, as long as you add sweetness to the oats.
You can enjoy this granola with any milk of your choice or even try having it on the go with some yogurt. I sometimes prepare my granola in a mason jar with Greek yogurt and frozen berries or whatever fruits I have in the kitchen. It seriously fills me up and helps me to avoid paying for breakfast before work!
Here's what you'll need to make this breakfast beauty!
Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup natural peanut butter
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup coconut oil *melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 cups mixed nuts *raw nuts as you will be roast the granola in the oven
How to Make It
Preheat oven to 180C .
In a large mixing bowl, place all dry ingredients, excluding the nuts. Mix in the coconut oil and stir until oats are well coated.
Add the peanut butter, honey and vanilla, and stir until well combined.
Stir in the mixed nuts.
Place granola onto baking tray and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Stir it every few minutes to keep it from burning.
Once baked, leave out to cool before storing it in an air-tight container.
Enjoy!