Naturally Sweet

We have a treat of a recipe for you this week, friends! Inspired by a classic flavor combination, peanut butter and banana, we've made a granola sweetened mostly with natural sugar from banana (with a hint of maple syrup). Because we love the health benefit of the core granola ingredients, oats and nuts, but often find granola to be overly sweet with too much added sugar to be eating as an everyday snack or topping. But not this recipe! Though it does include some dark chocolate, feel free to use any percentage dark chocolate to adjust sweetness/sugar level to your liking (the higher percent dark chocolate the less sweet it will be). Let's get to it!

Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Granola 
PREP TIME: 20 mins
TOTAL TIME: 60 mins
Servings: 9-12, 1/2 cup servings

Ingredients
4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup powdered peanuts (super finely crushed roasted unsalted peanuts) 
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup cacao powder
1/8 cup ground flax meal
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (natural peanut butter without added sugar or oil)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup 
2 small roasted bananas (~1/2 cup cooked banana) 
1/4 cup water 
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate (65% cacao or higher) 
1/2 cup cacao nibs 

Preheat the oven to 350°.  In a small pan, roast bananas in preheated oven in their skin for 12 minutes or until banana skin is dark brown and bananas have started to seep. Remove bananas from the oven and allow to cool. Once cool, squeeze bananas out of their skin and into a sauce pan for later use. 

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper then set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, powdered peanuts, oat bran, cacao powder, flax meal, and salt. 

In a sauce pan with the bananas, combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. Turn burner on to medium heat and whisk until the peanut butter has melted and all ingredients are combined. Pour warm peanut butter banana mixture over dry ingredients and stir until evenly coated. Add 1/4 cup water over the granola and stir to combine.

Evenly spread mixture onto parchment lined pan then sprinkle the top with cacao nibs and chopped chocolate. Bake for 30 minutes or until granola is golden brown. Let sit until cooled. Use a large spoon to break granola into large chunks. Place granola back into the oven and continue cooking for an additional 7-10 minutes. Make sure to stir granola at least once while it is cooking. Allow granola to completely cool before storing in air tight container. Adding granola to the container before it has completely cooled will add moisture and soften the granola. 

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We love this granola as cereal with milk of choice, a handful dry as a snack, or as a topping for yogurt or ice cream - though feel free to enjoy any way you like! The flavor is classic peanut butter banana with a subtle toasted flavor and just the right amount of sweetness.

Enjoy,
Jess and Cecelia

Yum