Chocolate Peanut Buttah Granola

If Alex had his choice, he would probably live off of granola & waffles for breakfast. If he can't have waffles, he wants a big bowl of PB Chocolatey goodness to fill him up for the morning. While my favorite homemade granola recipe is my Mama's Homemade Granola, this salty sweet recipe holds a place in my heart. I mean, any recipe that has peanut butter in the name probably has a place in my heart, but this one is pretty dang good!

Chocolate Peanut Buttah Granola

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 3 cups puffed brown rice cereal
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup crunchy organic peanut butter
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or brown rice syrup, honey, etc.)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Optional: unsalted raw or dry-roasted peanuts & chocolate chips

Nutritional Info: (per 3/4 cup serving without nuts/chocolate) 361 calories, 5.1 grams fiber, 10.5 grams protein, 43.6 grams carbs, 14.4 grams sugar, 263 milligrams sodium

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine oats and cereal together in a large bowl, set aside.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together applesauce, peanut butter, melted oil, sugar, syrup, vanilla & salt. Once fully incorporated together, add the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix until evenly coated.

Spread out the granola evenly on 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Pop in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and stir to prevent burning and insure even cooking. Mix in peanuts and place back in the oven for 10-15 more minutes. You'll know your granola is ready when the top pieces are light golden brown and slightly crisp.

Remove from the oven and pour in a large bowl. Top with as much (or little, or no) chocolate chips as you want! Mix the chocolate chips into the granola and let sit for a few minutes. Once the chips are melted you can mix it up even more to incorporate the chocolate onto more pieces or let it cook and have bigger chocolatey chunks.

Let cool & get to munching! ;)