PEANUT BUTTER GRANOLA

If you read my blogs or recipes, you probably already know that I play with recipes a lot when I'm cooking. I experiment a lot, hoping to find new, tastier, healthier foods, and to keep my diet dynamic and fun. 

Granola is one of those enigmatic foods that are, of course, purported to be "healthy." Unfortunately, the commercially-made ones are often fat-laden, and not with good fats, and otherwise full of chemical preservatives, color-enhancers, and anti-caking agents. And like many processed foods that I really like, I've decided to make my own, from scratch, and with organic and/or non-GMO ingredients. 

After some research, I settled on one recipe as a 'base.' I then modified it to include the organic ingredients, the flavors of which I was sure would compliment each other. By the way, this recipe uses something called organic peanut butter powder. It's the BOMB! Got it at Costco!

 PEANUT BUTTER GRANOLA

Ingredients
3 cups organic rolled oats
3/4 cup chopped raw organic almonds
3/4 cup chopped raw organic cashews

3/4 cup chopped raw organic pecans

3/4 cup shredded organic sweet coconut
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons organic brown sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons organic maple syrup
1/2 cup organic coconut oil

1 cup organic peanut butter powder
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup craisins

3/4 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, and coconut. Mix well.

In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, the maple syrup, oil, peanut butter powder, and salt. Heat on medium, stirring until melted and blended well. Remove from heat and pour over the oat-nut mixture. mix until all is coated evenly.

Pour onto 2 parchment paper-lined sheet pans. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.

Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add raisins and mix until evenly distributed.