Cookie Butter Granola

by Jillian September 20, 2017

written by Jillian September 20, 2017

Caramelized clusters of oats and almonds infused with the brown sugary sweetness of cookie butter!

Anything called “cookie butter” has to be good, right?

So why on Goddess’s green earth has it taken me so flippin’ long to try this stuff???

As a sweetoholic, I should be on top of trying all of the latest and greatest sugar-filled products. (I still have yet to try a cronut! What is WRONG with me???) Seeing as cookie butter has been around for years, there’s absolutely no excuse for why I haven’t gotten my hands on the stuff until now. And boy, have my tastebuds been missing out! Who knew something as odd and unappealing as ground up cookies could be so gosh diddily darn delicious?

While its smooth and creamy consistency is very similar to that of peanut butter, the flavor is TOTALLY different. The spread is made up of ground Speculoos cookies (along with a few other ingredients) which give it a cinnamony, slightly caramelized, almost gingerbread-like flavor.

Besides mindlessly shoveling the stuff in my pie hole, I decided to incorporate this miraculous spread into one of my favorite fall comfort foods…

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While I’m not totally certain if granola is a fall food, or even a comfort food, it’s always been one of my go-to treats to snack on during this time of year. I prefer to eat it plain…with my fingers. No milk, no spoon, just me, myself, and granola. That being said, whenever I make granola, I want it to be FULL of those large nutty clusters.

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Fortunately, it really doesn’t require much effort to get those captivatingly large and IN CHARGE clusters. In fact, it takes LESS effort. The secret? DON’T STIR THE GRANOLA AS IT’S BAKING.

Yes, it’s that simple, people. Oh, and another thing, before baking the granola, use a spatula to gently smash/compact it together. This helps to “glue” the oats together, if you will. Once it’s in the oven, you do NOT have to stir it every ten minutes like every other recipe suggests. Just allow it to bake undisturbed while you sit back and watch another episode of John Stamos, I mean “Full House.”

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After you remove the granola from the oven, you STILL do NOT need to stir it. Allow it to cool COMPLETELY in the pan. Since you’ve compacted it together before baking, it will have become one large slab. Once cooled, you can pick it up and break it into as many chunks/clusters as your heart desires. Warning: During this process, it’s very near impossible NOT to eat at least half of it.

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Just one cluster is all it takes for you to fall under this sweet and toasty treat’s spell. The cookie butter adds a nice autumn flavor of cinnamon brown sugary goodness. It’s almost like the cookie butter caramelizes as it bakes in the oven. While any nut will do, I prefer the crisp crunch of almonds in my granola. I also like to coarsely chop them myself rather than use slivered or sliced almonds. The uneven chunks give the clusters the perfect texture.

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Whether on its own, sprinkled on granola, or drowning in a ginormous bowl of milk, odds are you’ll be asking for seconds, thirds, and fourths.

In which case, I might suggest making a double batch…