Burnt Cereal aka Peanut Butter Granola

Granola, Greek Yogurt & Coffee = Tasty, Portable Breakfast

I named this blog out of pure silliness. I’ve never actually burned cereal.

At least, I hadn’t burned cereal until last night.

Then I attempted to make granola, and burned it. Normally, I wouldn’t share a recipe that didn’t work. But this one wasn’t a complete failure. I ate it this morning on top of Greek Yogurt, which masked the slightly burnt taste. It is good, just not as good as it could be. I’m pretty sure I know what I need to change next time. Besides, there was no way I could pass up the opportunity to blog about, well, burnt cereal.

Peanut Butter Granola
Makes 8 cups (which is a LOT of granola, by the way)

Ingredients
3 c. quick oats
2 c. unsalted peanuts
1 c. milled flax seed
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. natural chunky peanut butter (I like Krema, which I’ve started buying in 5 pound buckets)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2/3 c. vegetable oil

Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 325°F. Combine oats, peanuts, flax seed, salt, cinnamon and ginger in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a small saucepan, simmer honey & brown sugar over medium heat. Stir frequently. When honey and sugar are combined, remove from heat. Add peanut butter and vanilla. Add peanut butter mixture then oil to the dry ingredients. Mix well.
3. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the uncooked granola over the baking sheet. Bake for 30-35 minutes, stirring regularly.

Dry Ingredients, ready for peanut buttery goodness

Tips, Advice & What Went Wrong

• Lesson #1: This is loosely based on The Kitchn’s Peanut Butter and Honey Granola recipe. I took out several ingredients, added some of my own, and followed the cooking directions exactly. That’s where this went wrong. When I stirred the granola at the 30 minute mark, it wasn’t done. So I set the timer for another 10 minutes and went back to what had been doing. A few minutes later, I thought I smelled a burnt scent, which I stupidly ignored. I should’ve taken the granola out of the oven at that time.
• Lesson #2: The recipe I looked at called for 1 1/4 tsp. salt. I thought that seemed like a lot so I cut it down to 1 teaspoon. Jared and I both agreed that was still too much salt.
• Lesson #3: When I was mixing everything together, I originally tried to be prissy and do it with a wooden spoon. I quickly gave up and used my hands. I’ve done the same thing every time I’ve made Monster Cookies (maybe someday I’ll learn). It’s a more fun way to mix things anyway.