My children shamelessly break the rules of childhood by not being fans of the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My eldest will only eat PB&J if the "J" stands for apricot jam. The younger set will forgo all varieties of jams and jellies with their peanut butter, instead opting for one thing: honey. In our house, it's PB&H all the way, thanks to my picky children.
When the time came to whip up a batch of granola, I knew that this peanut butter granola sweetened with honey would be a big hit with everyone in the house. It was barely out of the oven before there were little hands in the kitchen reaching for nibbles of still-warm peanut butter granola. If you like your granola with more texture, feel free to add dried fruit and/or nuts in the last five minutes of baking. In addition to eating this by the handful as a portable snack, we also enjoy it in a bowl with milk for breakfast, or on top of yogurt and fresh fruit.
Peanut butter granola
Yields 4-6 cups
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the honey, brown sugar, peanut butter, cinnamon and sea salt until combined.
3. In a mixing bowl, stir together the oats and the coconut. Pour the peanut butter and honey mixture over the oats, and, working quickly, stir to evenly coat.
4. Divide the oats evenly between the two prepared baking sheets and spread it out in a single layer. Season it with a little more fine sea salt to enhance the flavors. Bake 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven, stir the granola with a spatula, spread it back out and return it to the oven for 5-10 more minutes, or until fragrant and browned. Allow the granola to cool completely before breaking it up and storing in an airtight container for up to two weeks. Enjoy with on its own, with milk as a cereal or on fruit and yogurt. Adapted from The New Midwestern Table by Amy Thielen.
Maya Evoy lives in Nikiski and blogs about food at alaskafromscratch.com. Have a food question or recipe request? Email maya@alaskafromscratch.com and your inquiry may appear in a future column.