Some say everything is better with butter. I’d argue everything is better with brown butter. OK, well maybe not everything, but a lot of things (pasta, cake, cookies) are. This new cranola creation, inspired by the delicate and crisp pecan sandie, is no exception.
When you’re craving something sweet (which is almost all the time for me), make a batch of brown butter pecan cookie granola. It requires just a handful of pantry staples and less than an hour to prepare (including cooking time). I whipped up this batch as soon as I got home from work and it was ready by the time I finished dinner and was ready for dessert. And it was so yummy, I couldn’t wait to share the recipe with you!
Brown Butter Pecan Cookie Granola
Makes about 4 cups
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup white whole-wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2½ cups rolled oats
- ½ cup pecan pieces
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Continue to cook, swirling pan occasionally, until deep golden brown. Immediately pour butter into a bowl and let cool to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat the cooled brown butter and sugar on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
- Add the flours, baking soda and salt and mix until just combined. Then add the oats and pecan pieces and stir with a wooden spoon. When the ingredients start to come together, use your hands to continue mixing until all the oats and nuts are covered with dough.
- Squeeze off chunks of dough and loosely break them apart over the baking sheet, creating large clumps.
- Bake the cranola for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and stir gently. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, remove from the oven and stir gently. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until clumps are dry.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the cranola cool completely. It will harden as it cools.
- Store cranola in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, if it lasts that long.
