JP Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Granola

JP’s  Chocolate Chip and PB Granola

6 cups of rolled oats

¼ cup flax meal (optional)

1 cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips

½ cup of peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)

¼ cup honey

2 tbs of peanut oil (optional- makes it more crunchy)

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp sea salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 325^oF

Dry roast the oats and grains

Spread the oats and any additional grains evenly on a cookie sheet.  They should be no more than 1 inch thick.  Toast in the oven for 10 minutes- stirring at 5 minutes to ensure even toasting.  Don’t over brown your grains as they will become bitter.

Prepare the liquids

Place the peanut butter and honey into a microwave safe bowl and warm on high for 1 minute.  Transfer to a big mixing bowl and add the vanilla, salt, and oil. Mix well.

Put it all together

Add the oats mixture to the mixing bowl of liquids and stir well. Ensure all the grains are evenly coated with the liquids.  Stir in the chocolate chips at the very end.  

The final bake

Spread the granola mixture onto a cookie sheet- use two if it is too thick (no more than an ½-1 inch thick).  Bake at 325 for 15 minutes- stirring at least every 5 minutes. The edges will cook faster than the middle- so stir often.

Cooling

Leave the granola on the cookie sheet to cool. Let the granola cool completely before putting into a storage container – this will keep it crisp and dry. Store in a air tight container at room temperature. 

Serving:

Eat the granola by the handful, add it to fresh berries and yogurt or enjoy it with milk. 

Variations:

Additional grains: add any grains (1/4 cup) to mix up the texture. I often add Bob’s Red Mill 9-grain cereal.

Nuts- any kind raw- dry roast the nuts (same method as toasting the grains), mix into the granola before baking.

Dried fruit- mix into the granola after it has cooled.

Basic Nutrition:

Serving size: ¼ cup    Servings per recipe: 28

Kcals :  145.15

Fat (gm): 5.96                                    % Kcals from fat:  35.48

Pro (gm): 4.07                                    % Kcals from pro: 10.77

Carb (gm): 20.32                               % Kcals from carb: 53.76