Peanut Butter Granola

In the heat, my ice cream intake increases exponentially.
The more hazy hot and humid it is, the less clothing I want to wear and real food I want to eat.  Somewhere between the end of June and the beginning of September, ice cream and frozen pies become an acceptable dinner in the book of noms. 

But in order to make this fine ice cream topping, some effort is required.
You’re going to have to turn on your oven…

But I beg of you, don’t take on this small project after work.  After work when you’re cranky and you’ve just walked 12 blocks from the subway to your apartment in your heels.  Semi-chafed thighs and exhausted from the scorching NYC end of day heat.

Don’t be stupid.
Don’t be like me. 

You’re smarter.  You’re savvier.  You’re not a glutton for punishment.  

You’ll make this granola on a Sunday morning, when your apartment is ice box cold - because the air conditioner has been cranked all night.  You’ll walk to your radio or iTunes or whatever you use to get in the I’m so sexy even though I wake up alone and holding my pillow Sunday morning cooking zone.  Then you’ll saunter over to your oven and turn it on for preheating.  As you walk towards your refrigerator, you’ll close your eyes for a brief moment, nod your head, smile and gently swing your hair over your right shoulder (not fast, you don’t want to give yourself whip lash) like there’s a real live man lounging on your couch - watching you.  Like he’s waiting for you to crouch down in to your refrigerator and get a good glimpse of your bum.  Head leaning forward, bum out and raised - you begin to remove your ingredients from the refrigerator and assemble them on your kitchen counter.

The kitchen is yours and you’ve entered the summer cool cooking zone.
Using the oven is possible in the summer cool cooking zone.  

You measure, you melt, you stir, you mix well, you press all of this peanut buttered gooeyness into a pan.  You look down, smiling lovingly at your half made creation.  Slowly, as you don’t want to disturb the order of things, you do the crouch.  The crouch to place the pan in the oven. You’ll close your eyes for a brief moment, nod your head, smile and gently swing your hair over your right shoulder (not fast, you don’t want to give yourself whip lash) like there’s a real live man STILL lounging on your couch - watching you. Like he’s waiting for you to crouch down in to your oven (no, not like Sylvia Plath, dumb dumb) to get yet another good glimpse of your bum.  Head leaning forward, bum out and raised - you place your baking dish in the oven.  Settling into your comfy chair, you watch CBS News Sunday morning and wait out the time while your granola bakes.  

The kitchen is yours and you’ve entered the summer cool cooking zone.
Using the oven is possible in the summer cool cooking zone.  

Thirty minutes of baking and you’ve removed the granola from the oven, placing the hot pan right atop the 12”x12” counter, the only counter, that is to the left of your sink.    

You flit over to your bedroom, pack your canvas tote bag (it’s not monogrammed, you’re not a hipster) and decide to take yourself on a date. Maybe a walk around the neighborhood, treating yourself to a new pair of comfortable summer sandals? Or maybe it’s a day, alone, to read in the park.

You return home at around 8 in the evening.
You walk to your air conditioner, turn it on, sit on the couch and stare into space.
The man is no longer on your couch, he was just there for the morning portion of your fantasy to make you move a little more fluidly.  A little bit sassier.  Remember, you really woke up holding a pillow.     

The smallest grumble in your belly reminds you that there’s homemade peanut butter granola sitting on your counter.  There’s peanut butter granola, readily available to scoop a top a giant bowl of ice cream.  You delicately cut into your peanut butter granola brick and begin breaking the large piece into smaller pieces.  You sneak a nibble and smile.  

A new pint of vanilla bean ice cream (feel free to go wild with your ice cream flavor) is waiting for you in the freezer.  You reach for a bowl, dig into the container and scoop out luscious round mounds of creamy cold ice cream.  Then you top it with peanut butter granola - take the first taste - and remember that summer can taste beautiful.

Yes, there’s a taste to summer, and it’s beautiful and blissful - especially when you’re not sweating or chafed.  

Homemade peanut butter granola and vanilla ice cream - as beautiful and sweet as your first kiss.

But not my first kiss because that was wrong and happened with a guy from the dirty Jersey who was so juiced up he was the size of a small cottage with a marble mouth to match.

Fantasize.  Dream.  Make believe.  Imagine.  

All food and cooking possibilities, in the summer, are endless, so long as you have a killer air conditioner.    

Peanut Butter Granola

5 c. rolled oats
3/4 c. peanut butter 
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. light brown sugar
1/4 c. butter

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Coat a 13x9 roasting pan with non-stick cooking spray, line with parchment paper and put aside
-Spread oats, evenly, on a large baking sheet and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until lightly toasted (pale golden brown) and put aside in a large mixing bowl
-In a medium saucepan, over a medium low flame, combine peanut butter, honey, light brown sugar and butter - cooking until just boiled
-Remove sauce pan from heat and drizzle mixture over oats, tossing the oats with the peanut butter mixture until coated 
-Press oat and peanut butter mixture into your prepped roasting pan, spreading evenly throughout the pan
-Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes
-Remove from the oven and let cool for 2-3 hours or overnight 
-Cut into the giant peanut butter granola bar and break into large pieces
-Store in glass jars or plastic containers and store in the refrigerator (if you don’t share this goodness or gobble it all up in 2-3 days)