By October is the most beautiful month in Alabama, which is not something I would have predicted growing up, but it is. The light goes golden, the air loses its thickness, you can open windows at night. Everything that was heavy in the summer becomes possible again in October.
My birthday is coming. Twenty years old next week. I have been thinking about that number: twenty. It is the first birthday that feels like an actual adult age to me. Nineteen still has teenager in it somehow. Twenty is something else. I have been twenty years old in my apartment for a year and a half now. I have been cooking Gloria recipes by myself in my own kitchen for a year and a half. I have been taking college classes and caring for toddlers and feeding myself and paying rent and being, as far as I can tell, a person who functions. Twenty.
Made apple butter this week because apples are in season and I wanted to preserve something. You slow-cook the apples all day with cider, brown sugar, and spices until they reduce to a thick, dark spread. The apartment smells like fall in its best form during this process: warm and spiced and rich. The apple butter went into three jars. I labeled them with the date in my handwriting. September 2018. I will eat this through winter.
Biscuit sat on the counter the entire time and watched the pot without blinking. She is either curious or she is judging me. With her it is sometimes hard to tell.
The apple butter was already cooling in its jars when I realized the whole day had been about exactly this—making something with my hands, something that would last, something that smelled like the season I was living in. That feeling didn’t stop when the pot came off the stove. I made a batch of this pumpkin spice granola the same week, for the same reason: October was being generous, and I wanted to hold onto as much of it as I could. It keeps well in a sealed jar, it makes the apartment smell incredible while it bakes, and eating it through November and December feels like carrying a little piece of this particular fall forward with me—into twenty, into whatever comes next.
Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Granola
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (added after baking)
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 325°F (165°C). Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth and fully combined.
- Add the dry ingredients. Add the rolled oats, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt to the bowl. Stir well until every oat is coated in the pumpkin peanut butter mixture.
- Spread and bake. Spread the granola in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 25–30 minutes, stirring gently at the halfway mark, until the granola is golden and fragrant. Watch the edges, as they can brown faster.
- Cool completely. Remove from the oven and let the granola cool on the pan without stirring—this is what allows clusters to form. It will crisp up as it cools, about 20 minutes.
- Add chocolate chips. Once the granola is fully cooled, scatter the chocolate chips over the top and fold them in gently so they don’t melt.
- Store. Transfer to an airtight jar or container. Granola keeps at room temperature for up to 2 weeks—label it with the date in your own handwriting if that’s your style.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 280 | Protein: 7g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 95mg