Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Granola ~ #Oatober with PB & Co and Bob's Red Mill

Disclaimer-I was provided with oats and peanut butter from Bob's Red Mill and Pb & Co to use for this recipe. I received no further compensation and was under no obligation to review or host a giveaway. All opinions are, as always, my own. This post also contains Amazon affiliate links.

Guys...I am so excited to help ring in #Oatober with this recipe! Oh, what is Oatober, you ask? It's October....but Peanut Butter & Co. and Bob's Red Mill have teamed up to make this month all about hearty, versatile oats + delicious and flavorful peanut butter! And I'm so stoked because these are two of my favorite brands-I legit. use them all the time!

Now....there are a bjillion ways you can pair oats and peanut butter (oatmeal, cookies, fruit crisp desserts, etc.) but one of my favorites in GRANOLA. I just love granola. It's such a tasty and easy breakfast or snack and it can even be used in other things (granola waffles? granola cookies? etc.) So...I decided that was the perfect thing to share with you guys today!

Something really cool and unique about this recipe is the whole wheat flour-it creates little clumps and is part of what adds to the "cookie" sort of feeling this granola has. Oh and be prepared-it will 100% smell like you're baking delicious cookies when it's in the oven. But that's ok because, even though this granola is healthy and wholesome and filling, it's also insanely delicious. Dark Chocolate Dreams is my pb bestie-chocolatey and peanut buttery goodness. Then we have crunchy peanuts and subtly sweet honey and the chewiness that you get courtesy of oats. Perfection. Guiltless indulgence!

Oh yeah and...continue on past the recipe for a GIVEAWAY! :D

Golden Girl Granola Review

I wanna tell you a little tale about some tasty tasty granola. 

Golden Girl Granola is a family run company, started by the O'Kelly's, that began being sold at farmer's markets in Massachusetts in 2007 and is now available in stores all around New England as well as online for all the rest of us! Even though the company has grown, they still use the finest ingredients and make hand-stirred small batches to achieve the tastiest possible product! 

Need more reasons that I love this granola so much?

1. It's whole grain, wheat-free (and is produced in a gluten-free kitchen), is non-GMO, and uses the finest, all-natural ingredients.
2. Golden Girl Granola is locally produced in MA, and uses locally-sourced ingredients whenever possible!
3. It's super duper tasty!

I was lucky enough that Golden Girl Granola sent me 4 of their flavors for me to try! They sent me chocolate decadence, bluesberry, and home sweet honey. You can enjoy these granolas in a variety of ways (seriously...there's a section of their website devoted to recipes, and they also sent me a little recipe booklet!)--you can eat the granola on yogurt or ice cream, bake it into cookies (which I may do next?), eat it as cereal, use it in pancakes (that's how I used the chocolate decadence and bluesberry--for myself and Michael, respectively), and...obviously...just eat it on its own as a snack! My favorites were the original and home sweet honey to just eat for breakfast or a quick snack, straight out of the bag. The granolas are nutty and crisp and taste wholesome and real. Nothing fake. Just tastiness!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Coconut Nutty Granola

This is my favorite thing I've made lately.

Like...every time I eat it I want to just go "Mmmmm....SO GOOD!" and then I curse myself for not making homemade granola more often. Because then I could have eaten this deliciousness sooner.

This granola tastes better than candy. It's sweet and crunchy and chocolatey and nutty and...it almost tastes as bit caramelized. It's the best granola I've ever eaten and by far the best I've ever made. Before making this recipe I hadn't really thought through how adaptable granola is. Like...you can pretty much throw whatever stuff you want in there. And that is what I did. And it turns out all the odds and ends I needed to use up were the perfect mix. Kismet!

Oats are the base of granola. Then some coconut oil and honey and dark chocolate peanut butter bind and sweeten the entire thing. And then...add whatever you choose. In this case I chose to add whole almonds and chopped hazelnuts and pecans and-my unexpected favorite-toasted coconut flakes. Oh my GAWD, those toasted coconut flakes after they were baked in the entire mixture turned out to be ridiculously irresistible. So friggin delicious. The entire thing was-just the most satisfying snack or breakfast or...heck...dessert!

You have GOT to try it!

Simple Peanut Butter Granola Bars

This is one of my favorites, and one of the easiest, of my recipe finds. A big problem with a lot of granola bars is that they are secretly full of crap and bad for you. These are wholesome, healthy, and suuuper yummy! I got extremely excited about eating these warm the first time I made these, but I ended up not being a fan (not to mention they were a little overcooked--I adjusted the cooking time the second time I made these, which will be the time you see in the recipe). But, once cooled, they are extremely good, and once made they are great to just wake up and eat a granola bar for a speedy breakfast. Another HUGE perk of these is that they only NEED 4 ingredients. I knew they would be healthier if I'd opt for certain add ins, but I also knew that I'm broke and that that would have to be saved for a later, more lucrative, period in my life (I did put the chocolate chips in, however, I am me after all). And, I always impress people when I tell them I made my own granola bars. So now you can impress people too!