Recipe: Marmee's Granola

I have very vivid memories from my childhood of sitting at the kitchen table and watching my dad make his typical weekday breakfast.  He smelled like cold and sweat, having just come inside from a run.  He would pour himself a big bowl of cornflakes, add a scoop of my mom's granola, top it with a sliced banana, and then fill the bowl with milk.  The smell of cold sweat, black coffee, and sliced bananas - that's my dad.

Sometimes we refer to my mom as Marmee, like the March girls in Little Women.  This is her granola recipe and it is yum!

The Stuff
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (Marmee insists it has to be natural - no skippy or jiff)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 box of slow cook oats (not instant)
- 2 cups of chopped nuts (any variety - I like pecan)
- 1 cup of raisins (optional)

Get Bakin' 
- Preheat oven to 325-350 F (depends on how hot your oven runs)
- In a stock pot, heat the honey, oil, and peanut butter over low heat.  Stir until the peanut butter is melted and everything is smooth and incorporated
- Turn the heat off and add the oats and nuts.  Mix until everything is combined
- Evenly distribute the mixture over two baking sheets, making sure there are no large uncovered areas on the pan (if there is a big exposed area the granola with brown more around that spot)
- Bake for 6-8 minutes
- Using a spoon, redistribute the granola around the pan to pull the granola from the edge to the center so they don't burn
- Bake for an additional 6-8 minutes until golden brown
- Let cool before storing in an airtight container

If you want to add raisins, add them periodically to the batch as you eat through it.  If you add the raisins immediately they will harden and be difficult to chew.

A few tips from me
- Natural peanut butter is annoying.  You have to stir it up to distribute the oil.  This is an arm workout.  Seriously, my arms were sore because the PB I used was like a brick.
- If you like large chunks of granola, don't stir it up until it fully cools.  If you mix it up immediately after pulling it out of the oven it breaks-up the chunks.

Enjoy!