Easy and delicious, and better yet, versatile–excellent traits for a recipe to have. And boy does this peanut butter granola recipe have them!

Homemade granola serves as one of the staples in my house, because it offers up whole grains (and white bread eaters like us could use a hidden, healthy does of whole grains) and also because we can use it in many ways. My son makes it his breakfast cereal; my husband takes it to work to top his homemade yogurt for a dose of energy when he takes his coffee break in the morning; and the others frequently grab a bag for their lunchboxes to munch trail mix-style.

So yes, our granola gets around and it’s nice when I can find a way to add some variety to that, such as a new granola flavor (to date we’ve done your typical, regular granola, a chocolate version, and now we’ve added this peanut butter variety as well), it really helps to keep the household happy. This particular recipe has helped to keep me happy, too, because it is the simplest and fastest granola recipe I’ve experienced to date. I swear the whole process takes no more than 20 minutes.

Credit Where It’s Due…

The original Peanut Butter Granola recipe I found, of course, on Pinterest and it originated at Shape.com. That recipe, however, was tiny and was never going to do for my family of 6 (we’re talking a 1 cup batch here, folks). That kind of boggled me because granola keeps very well on its own. Homemade granola is very easy to store and if you’re taking the time to make it anyway, why not make enough to make it worth it? Realistically, it might add a half a minute or two to the process, but then you’ve got it ready and waiting for a while…or for a day and a half if you’re my crew (perhaps when the novelty wears a bit we’ll stretch it to three days…yes, it’s that good).

So to cut the story short (too late!?), I modified the recipe to something that seemed sensible to me, and now what I have for you is this 8-cup recipe for:

Big Batch Peanut Butter Granola

• 1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1 Cup Honey
• 2 Tsp Cinnamon
• 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 8 Cups Oats

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine peanut butter and honey in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 1 minute and 20 seconds, just until the peanut butter melts.
3. Stir well to combine peanut butter and honey.
4. Stir vanilla and cinnamon into the peanut butter mixture.
5. Add peanut butter mixture to oats and stir until all oats are coated and mixture is worked through thoroughly.
6. Spread onto prepared baking sheets and bake at 325 for about 10 minutes.
7. When edges just start to brown, the granola is done. It will crisp as it cools and you will have a nice, crunchy (but not cut-your-mouth crunchy) granola when it cools completely.

Tips & Notes:

• I would consider adding 1/4-1/2 cup chopped peanuts just for a bit more crunch and texture, although it’s excellent all on its own. If you do, it’s possible you might need to add a touch more peanut butter.
• I would also suspect Crunchy Peanut Butter would work well to add more crunch and a bit stronger flavor. I typically don’t keep it around, but I’d bet it would be very good.
• Local honey is best as, well, it’s local and hasn’t polluted the world getting to you, but you also get all those wonderful benefits of local honey, including building immunity to allergies.
• Store in a sealed container, such as a Tupperware cereal container or 2 quart Mason Jars with covers (my favorite pantry look 😉 ). Will keep for a long time stored this way. I can’t say how long, it never lasts long enough for me to know!

Do enjoy, and do let me know what you thought of this recipe–or if you have any of your own suggestions or modifications to share, please comment below!