Deliciously Organic

Organic, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Paleo Recipes and Thyroid Health

Chocolate Peanut Granola

The kids started school today. I love the first day of school. The anticipation. The excitement. The freshly sharpened pencils, boxes of crayons, and new backpacks.

The start of school is like a second New Year. It’s time for evaluating, reorganizing, and setting some new goals. I hope your list includes continuing to make small, simple steps toward eating a more healthy diet. It’s not about a grand overhaul, but small changes for you and your family. The next two weeks I’ll be giving advice and recipes to keep you and your family eating as healthfully as possible during the school year. Even if you aren’t in school or don’t have children, these ideas are for you too . . .

I want to start with breakfast. I know that as the year gets going, a healthy breakfast can be one of the first meals to slide. We often reach for something quick and easy (and unhealthy). You can feed yourself and your family on a rushed morning with a few simple steps, and nothing has to come from a box. Breakfast in our house is usually a rotating lists of foods. At 7am when the kids are running around I need quick nutritious foods.

First, I make large batches of muffins, pancakes, or waffles (whole wheat or gluten free) on the weekends and freeze them for weekday mornings. When we’re rushing, I turn the oven to 350°F, place the muffins or whatever I’ve frozen in the oven (I don’t even wait for the oven to heat up, just pop it in when you turn the oven on) go about getting everyone ready and in about 20 minutes I have a hot, healthy breakfast for everyone to enjoy.

A second option is granola. Honestly, I haven’t found a store-bought cereal I can stand behind. Even the brands that advertise “whole grain” are usually still loaded with sweeteners and preservatives. So I make my own. I can’t tell you how fast it is to throw together some granola that you can use as cereal in the mornings. The granola pictured today took me 10 minutes to toss together and 45 minutes of baking. Again, you can make some on the weekend or on a weekday when you have some time and you’ll have cereal ready when you need it during the week.

Eggs make an excellent busy-morning bite. I make them sunny-side-up, in an omelet with spinach or bell peppers, or scrambled with shredded cheese mixed in. Eggs are incredibly nutritious and can be tossed together in a matter of minutes.

My daughter’s favorite lately has been banana bread. I made a loaf last week and put it in the fridge. She pulls out the toaster, slices off a thick piece, toasts it and tops it with a little butter. That beats a “toaster pastry” out of a box any day.

Good, healthy breakfasts take a little preparation but totally pay off. This chocolate peanut granola is so amazing, you won’t ever want to go back to cocoa cereal. It’s chocolaty, crunchy, sweet, and filling. If you don’t have time to eat it with milk, simply put it in a little bag and take it with you. If you have some left at the end of your week, you could always reward yourself for the healthy breakfasts and sprinkle it over vanilla ice cream!

Makes about 10 cups

Chocolate Peanut Granola

This recipe leaves lots of room for creativity. You can substitute the peanuts with almonds, pecans, or walnuts or try adding dried fruits like cherries to change things up a bit.?

Adapted from Food Network.

Save RecipeSave Recipe

Ingredients

    For the granola:
  • 1/4 cup cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
  • 4 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup sunflower seeds
  • 3/4 cup white sesame seeds
  • 2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup organic whole cane sugar or sucanat
  • 2 cups raw peanuts
  • 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 300°F and adjust rack to middle position. Mix everything together very well in a large mixing bowl. Spread the mixture evenly on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake for 45 minutes, turning over half-way through baking. Cool completely before serving. Crumble and store in an airtight container.
7.8.1.2
3221
https://deliciouslyorganic.net/chocolate-peanut-granola/

 

Did you enjoy this post?

Sign up for FREE updates!

Receive my "Top 50 Tips to Help Heal Your Thyroid" when you subscribe!

You may also enjoy these posts

Organic, Real Food on a Budget – Open-Face Eggplant SandwichCherry ClafoutiWaffles and Ice Cream

47 Comments

  2. Heather

    August 17, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Yummy! What a great quick and healthy early morning on the go breakfast. Tomorrow will mark the first day of tot school for my munchkins and like you I've been busy making goodies for rushed morning breakfasts. Great ideas!
    Reply to this comment

  7. Julie @ Willow Bird Baking

    August 17, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    This granola looks and sounds delicious! I also just posted a recipe for homemade bran flakes on my blog, and a suggestion for how to make a "homemade breakfast cereal buffet" if you're interested -- your granola would be perfect for it!I tend to eat turkey sausages for breakfast each day... variety is not my strong point during the week!! Ha.
    Reply to this comment

  8. MamaBearJD@theonewithallthekids

    August 17, 2010 at 8:16 pm

    I will be making this next, I have not had good luck serving granola before, but maybe with chocolate? This morning my school aged kids made your banana bread with me, we made muffins and told the 2 year old it was cake! I was out of buttermilk so I substituted greek yogurt with a little milk. They are packing these for a school snack tomorrow. Your use of whole wheat pastry flour is brilliant - I am having much more success with the kids following your recipes vs. those with plain WW flour. I am looking forward to your cookbook!
    Reply to this comment

  9. Molly Chester

    August 17, 2010 at 3:30 pm

    Hi Darling! I am going to pass this on to a family friend who's kids LOVE sugary boxed cereals. This would be a great substitute! I love your approach of giving advice for back-to-school. I found it really helpful, and I only have a little doggie in doggie day care. :)See you soon! Molly
    Reply to this comment

  12. Kimmy

    August 18, 2010 at 1:39 pm

    This is SO helpful... LOVE LOVE LOVE these suggestions... if you were my neighbor - and because I know how great you are in person - I'd pick your brain about these things... (blog material hint, hint!) (o:* easy, healthy school lunch ideas* after school snacks ideas* meal ideas to take to others (i.e. when they have a baby, etc.)* whole healthy meals to serve to a group (Like church small group.)I hope your girls have a great first week of school.... mine start Monday... I'm a little sad! We've had such a GREAT summer. But back to school is a fun time, too... ~ kim
    Reply to this comment

  15. Emily

    August 18, 2010 at 10:13 pm

    I have a batch baking in the oven right now! I split it into 2 and made half with peanuts and half with raw cashews for Tyler (since he has a peanut allergy). It smells wonderful in the house and we can't wait till breakfast!
    Reply to this comment

  24. Amanda S.

    January 16, 2011 at 6:07 pm

    I am addicted to this stuff! I love the way it's crisp without being overly crunchy (the last time I made granola, it hurt my teeth!). I love it with vanilla yogurt and sliced banana... yum!
    Reply to this comment

  25. Anna Banana

    March 5, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    I am making this right now and I have to say that turning it over halfway through baking proved to be no easy feat whatsoever! *SIGH* Do you have any recommendations on how I can keep my sanity next time I make this? I am really excited about it being finished though, I am going to have a wonderful breakfast in the morn. (10 more minutes!)
    Reply to this comment

  28. May

    May 24, 2012 at 5:15 am

    I've been eating this for breakfast all week! And the chocolate milk at the bottom of the bowl... fantastic! But it's getting pretty warm around here so I don't like using the oven. Instead I use a tip from another blogger: bake granola at 375 for 10 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave it over night. The next morning I had perfect granola (though I was only baking one cookie sheet). Thanks for the fabulous ideas!
    Reply to this comment

  29. Hannah

    April 4, 2013 at 2:18 pm

    I just found your website and I will definitely be coming back! I've started my own blog about our family's transition to a mostly wheat-free diet spurred by my husband's Psoriatic Arthritis (he's come off all medications - he was on 4! - after eliminating processed food, wheat and sugar). Can't wait to learn from you as well! And this granola recipe looks amazing ...
    Reply to this comment

  30. Jillian

    August 15, 2013 at 6:00 pm

    I love your recipes! This would be perfect for my daughter who will be starting kindergarten in a couple of weeks. Do you have any thoughts about substituting honey or molasses for the maple syrup? I'm allergic to maple but would love to try this recipe.
    Reply to this comment

Trackbacks

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *