Breakfast in Bed: Peanut Butter Granola

Our theme over at I Heart Cooking Clubs this week is Breakfast in Bed, doesn't that sound fun? Breakfast is my absolute favorite meal of the day and I had a very hard time trying to decide what to make this week. There were a couple contenders such as Homemade English Muffins, Eggs Au Gratin, or even Hard-Cooked Eggs with Tomato Curry Sauce. Then a light went on and I remembered the recipe for this Peanut Butter Granola. It was quite literally an AHA moment! I am crazy for all things granola and even more crazy about all things peanut butter. Why not make Peanut Butter Granola?

Peanut Butter Granola
Adapted from How To Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman
Makes About 8 Cups
6 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking or instant)
2 cups mixed nuts and seeds (I used peanuts, pecans, and almonds)
1 cup shredded coconut (I omitted the coconut)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
Dash salt
1/2 to 1 cup honey or maple syrup, or to taste
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup raisins or chopped dried fruit
Preheat the oven to 300F. Put a 9x13 inch roasting pan (you will need one with high sides) over medium-low heat (put the pan over 2 burners if it's convenient). Add the oats and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to change color and become fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the nuts and seeds and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add the coconut and cook, stirring 2 minutes more. Add the cinnamon, salt and sweetener (honey or maple syrup), 1/2 cup peanut butter and put in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice so the peanut butter doesn't burn.
Add the dried fruit, stir, and cool on a rack, continuing to stir once in a while until the granola reaches room temperature. Transfer to a sealed container and store in the refrigerator; it will keep indefinitely.

Notes/Results:This was the first time I've made homemade granola and it was a lot of fun! It's definitely a tasty way to clean out your pantry. I used about a cup of leftover peanuts, a handful of almonds and a handful of pecans. I decided to omit the coconut since this was a peanut butter granola. I also didn't add in any dried fruit because I really wanted to taste the peanut butter flavor. I noticed the granola really didn't seem very crunchy after baking for 20 minutes, but I knew that it would continue to dry out while cooling. It was a good call because the granola was perfectly crunchy once it was finished cooling. I made the full recipe which yields a mountain of granola! Did I like the granola? Definitely. Would I make it again? Yes. I had a bowl of the granola this morning with some milk and really enjoyed it. The best part....after eating the granola, the milk was a lovely peanut butter color! I don't usually drink the leftover milk in my cereal, but peanut butter flavored milk......now that's another story!
I am submitting this to I Heart Cooking Clubs for this week's Breakfast in Bed theme.