Breakfast Recipe: Peanut Butter and Honey Granola

My husband is an absolute fiend for peanut butter. (Remember this post on eating peanut butter straight from the jar? Inspired by him.) We both also love granola; it's one of our favorite weekday breakfasts. So I have been pondering a peanut butter granola for some time now. This week, it became a reality!

This is a simple granola, based loosely on that splendid olive oil granola from Melissa Clark. But I substituted roasted peanuts for the pistachios, and I also worked in a hefty amount of natural peanut butter. I melted brown sugar with honey, whisked in the peanut butter until smooth, and then tossed it with the nuts, oats, and a cup of wheat germ. I added a little oil and some cinnamon and ginger, and then baked it up!

The result is a deeply nutty, peanut-buttery granola, rich and hefty with all that peanutty goodness. This is definitely a granola that needs milk or yogurt to balance out the richness. It isn't terribly sweet, though. I didn't think that the dried fruit of traditional granola belonged here; raisins and apricots didn't seem to fit. But I did add a handful of chopped dates, which brought a nice chewiness and mellow sweetness.

This is a granola to please the most avid peanut butter lovers out there; it's rich, nutty, and salty in that way that definitely made my husband happy! It's also a satisfying breakfast, especially with a dollop of yogurt. And if you're feeling especially indulgent, try it with one extra drizzle of honey!

Peanut Butter and Honey Granola
About 8 cups granola

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups shelled roasted peanuts
1 cup hulled raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup wheat germ
1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup natural peanut butter, smooth or chunky
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup vegetable or olive oil
3/4 cup chopped dried dates

Heat the oven to 325°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine oats, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, wheat germ, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.

In a small saucepan, mix the honey and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Pour over the oat mixture. Pour in the oil, and stir thoroughly. The mixture will be chunky and rough.

Spread the oat mixture evenly on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes, stirring twice while baking. Transfer the granola to a large bowl and add the dates, tossing to combine.

Additional Flavors & Add-Ins:
• Chocolate & PB: 1/2 cup chocolate chips, after the granola has completely cooled.
• Tropical PB: 1 cup unsweetened coconut, added before baking, plus 1/2 cup each dried pineapple and banana chips added after baking.
• PB & J: 1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1/2 cup raisins added after baking, instead of the dates.

More Granola Recipes & Tips:
• How To Make Chunky Granola Clusters
• Tip: Bake Granola on Parchment for Easy Transfer
• Watch Out! Dangerously Addictive Olive Oil Granola
• D.I.Y. Recipe: Basic Granola Formula
• A Sweet Crunch: Granola Recipes We Can't Wait to Try!
• Recipe: Crunchy Granola Bars

(Images: Emma Christensen and Faith Durand)

Comments (16)

I actually think this would go really well with dried fruit that "jammy" in flavor - strawberries or cherries might be fabulous!

A few months ago I started mixing peanut butter into my homemade granola which someone kindly linked to in comments here a while back. It's such an awesome flavor boost. We go through a decent-sized batch in two weeks at our house paired with plain yogurt.

I bet this would be a good ice cream topper too, like on chocolate ice cream... MmmmMMMMmmm

What is that cream-like dollop sitting on top?

Looks good, but I am too lazy just now. I mix peanut butter in with my plain oatmeal and sprinkle a little cinnamon on it.

Wow, sounds great. I might use molasses instead of honey or a combo, just because I'm trying to use some up.

I make granola in my Crockpot: mix it all up and set it on low WITHOUT THE LID. Takes about 4-5 hours, with a few stirs.

@Anita83, just some thick yogurt.

I don't know, ever since I learned about how much MOULD growns on peanuts - I stay away. Almonds would work though, then it's all good.

@caliH - The best is homemade granola on ice cream when the granola is still fresh out of the oven and warm :) mmm is right!

What about using Nutella instead of peanut butter? Now we're talking!

What happened!??!!?? I followed the recipe exactly, but after 30 minutes the most horrible smell wafted out of the oven, the granola was burned black!! I mixed it after about 15 minutes in the oven, and I was just about to mix for the second time... I'm so bummed!!
I have no idea what happened...Is it because I have a convection oven?
Very disappointed... :(

@Dutch girl...it sounds like it is because of your oven. Lower the heat maybe next time? Usually with convection, you cook for a shorter amount of time than suggested in a recipe. That totally stinks (no pun intended).

I plan on making this soon. My boyfriend is a Celiac and I feel better making granola than buying it. Thank you for the recipe!

P.s. of course I won't use the wheat germ ;)

@dutch girl, that's awful! I'm so sorry. I do agree about the oven; this is a pretty conservative bake time, as my oven also runs hot.

I would recommend lowering the heat, and also stirring more frequently -- perhaps every 10 minutes. Also, keep an eye on it; when it is a uniform mahogany color, go ahead and take it out, regardless of how much time has elapsed.

OMG. I just made this - my first granola ever! Delicious! I'm allergic to nuts, so I used my "fake peanut butter" (aka sunflower seed butter) instead. And, instead of dates, I used dried apricots and cranberries because that's what I had one hand. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!

I followed the recipe exactly. It smelled like peanut butter cookies while it cooked. So good. Though the result I'm not in love with. Too naughty and too filling, flavor is just ok. The cluster granola recipe was more my speed:

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/breakfast/cluster-granola-from-melissa-of-the-travelers-lunchbox-breakfast-with-a-blogger-141777

I just tried this, with the following changes (didn't have everything required in my cupboard)

I didn't have wheat germ, so I ground an extra cup of oats in my food processor and added those.

Was out of peanuts and pumpkin seeds, so I skipped those. Added 1 cup pepitas and 1 cup sunflower seeds. Both of these were roasted and salted, so I did not add the kosher salt as measured.

I used 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter and the rest was smooth. One of them was salted also.

My oils were a mix of grape seed and coconut oils. I added these to the peanut butter, honey, and brown sugar mixture to melt the coconut oil to the right consistency.

After everything was mixed together, I tasted for salt level. Some might have added just a touch of salt, but I found it to be just right for our liking, so I left it alone.

I baked for 13 minutes, mixed, baked for 13, mixed, baked for 13, removed from oven. I mixed it up just a little, but I mostly left it on the pan to do cooling so it would stay chunkier. After it mostly cooled, I added chopped died tart cherries from Trader Joes to about half of the mix and dumped some on my yogurt.

Oh, my word. SO GOOD!

I put the other half of the granola sans fruit into the freezer. I'm thinking I will try cranberries and chocolate chips with that half.

This recipe made a very large amount of granola for just the two of us, but I don't mind baking ahead for later. I froze a gallon bag which was half full. I filled a pint jar and a 3 cup jar to eat now. This doesn't include what I ate on my yogurt, so this recipe is a good size.

I can't wait until the hubby tries it!