Sweet Heat Granola

This is an easy and highly customizable homemade granola recipe. The flavors of peanut butter and sriracha are reminiscent of a Thai peanut sauce and the cayenne adds an extra kick for heat lovers.

Now with that said, the cayenne can be omitted and the amount of Sriracha sauce can be adjusted to your liking. One tablespoon of Sriracha along with 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne produces just a slight heat and is typically good for the general public. I make granolas when I run into the oats in the pantry and I’m not in the mood for cookies or oatmeal. I stock up on oats when they go on the BOGO sale. So I usually have some around. I’ve made many batches with different sweeteners and nuts. I’d take a batch to the office now and again and everyone loves them. They do make a better snack than the candies in the candy jar.

Notes

• Nuts – use any nut of choice, whatever you have in your pantry. I’ve used dry roasted mixed nuts and omitted the salt and it’s turned out nicely.
• Sweetener – you can use honey or brown sugar or maple syrup.  Once again, whatever is in the pantry.
• Oil – you can use coconut oil or unsalted butter. Coconut oil and saturated fat has been a hot topic lately. If you don’t want to use it, just use butter.
• You can substitute the seeds and cranberries with whichever seeds and dried fruits you like.
• Spiciness level is also up to you. Increase or decrease the amount of sriracha and cayenne anyway you like. I would start with a little bit and taste the peanut butter mixture while in the sauce pan before adding more. Just in case. 🙂

For this recipe, I went into the pantry and threw this thing together.  Seriously. Don’t over think it. Oh! And taste that peanut butter sriracha mixture. Not only to make sure it’s to your liking, but when I made it, it tasted like an awesome spicy peanut butter sauce.  I want to create something just to dip it in that sauce. That is the mixture made with peanut butter, honey, sriracha and coconut oil. You get the classic peanut butter and sriracha flavors and then the coconut undertone just rounds out the Thai flavors. Yum.

Hope you enjoy this one.

Sweet Heat Granola – Honey, Peanut Butter & Sriracha

Yields: 4 ½ cups
Time: 35 minutes

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup almonds or nut of choice
½ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup sesame seeds (optional)
½ cup dried cranberries

¼ cup honey (or brown sugar)
¼ cup smooth peanut butter
1/8 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted seeds or nuts)
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or unsalted butter)
1 tablespoon sriracha (or to taste)
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Preheat oven to 325F. On baking sheet, combine oats, nut(s), sunflower seeds and sesame seed (if desired). Do not include dried cranberries. Bake in the oven for 6-8 minutes to toast. Turn the mixture with spatula at least once for even toasting. Allow to cool slightly.
• Meanwhile, warm the honey, peanut butter, coconut oil, sriracha, salt (if desired) and cinnamon and cayenne.
  Add the cranberries to the toasted oats and nut mixture. Then toss. Pour the warm honey mixture on top of the oat mixture and toss well to coat the mixture evenly. Spread the mixture on a greased baking sheet and bake for 17-20 minutes. Toss with a spatula once about halfway through to bake evenly.
• Allow to cool completely. The granola will harden as it cools. Store in an airtight container for about a week.