Salted Bourbon Vanilla Granola… with Caramelized Fig Parfaits.
What an obnoxious title. I know.
It’s just that.
The granola. It’s so good. It’s the best part, even though initially creating this recipe I was adamant that the figs would be the best part… obviously… because I love figs. And I get like five figs every year here in Pittsburgh and they stay around for even fewer minutes than five and finding enough to make a full recipe is GIGANTIC news.
I thought that I had a favorite granola recipe. And I mean, like, a REAL favorite granola recipe. Not an “oh I call everything my favorite and this is the favorite of right this second” granola recipe. This coconut butter granola has been one I’ve made over and over.
In fact, it’s been one of the only things getting me through the last few months. (true life: remember at one point when I said I had seven boxes of cereal on my counter? Now you know why.)
But then. I made THIS granola here today and I am dying. The coconut butter version is still fab but you gotta be in the mood for coconut, you know? Which of course I almost always am. But this little snack here is kind of like… vanilla.
And I don’t mean vanilla as in it has vanilla inside of it. But more like vanilla because it’s simple and can go with all the things. It has hints of bourbon, vanilla and sea salt but still is simple enough for a classic granola.
Two words: REEEE. Diculous.
Anyway, I’ll shut up about that. Because I also need to take a moment to flip the heck out about the FIGS. Yes, what I said above is true – adore adore adore. I love me some figs and even though I technically prefer the dried ones (best pre workout snack ever), there is nothing like a fresh fig.
And yes, I’m sure there is nothing like a fresh fig off the tree in your backyard but please don’t rub it in since the ones I get are ripened on a truck for ten days. Oh so delicious. At least that’s what I tell myself.
Is it acceptable to move across the country solely for fig purposes?
Yep yep, I feel a tiny bit dumb telling you how to make a parfait, so we don’t really need to do that. The key here is make this granola, eat it in the middle of the night or for breakfast or whatever. Also make the figs, and maybe eat them with ice cream or on cereal if you aren’t feeling the yogurt.
Oh also can we discuss how the highlight of this day was when a plumber came to do some repairs… and sitting on the counter was a half-drank bottle of bourbon while the only person in the house was clearly knocked up?
Salted Bourbon Vanilla Granola and Caramelized Fig Parfaits
Ingredients
salted bourbon vanilla granola
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup bourbon
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 pound fresh figs, halved or quartered
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups plain greek yogurt, I prefer 2% or whole
- extra honey for drizzling
Instructions
- Start with the granola. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts, flaxseed and sugar and mix well. In a small saucepan over medium low heat, combine butter, bourbon, honey and vanilla bean paste. Whisk the mixture until the butter has melted and cook for a minute or two until bubbling so some of the alcohol can cook out. Remove from heat and pour the wet ingredients into the dry oats. Stir well until all of the granola is moistened (no there is not a better word to use). Spread the granola on the baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip. Bake for 10 minutes more, flipping again. Continue to bake for 15 more minutes, tossing the granola every 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the sea salt and let cool COMPLETELY. I find that granola clumps together best when it’s still wet and air drys until cool. Once cool, break into clumps and pieces with your hands.
- Increase the oven heat to 400 degrees. Place the figs on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with salt. Roast the figs until caramely, about 20 minutes. Remove the figs and let cool slightly.
- Must I really tell you how to layer a parfait? Add some figs and granola to the bottom of the glass – cover with yogurt. I used a few extra drizzles of honey too since my yogurt was plain. Repeat the process two more times – or as many times as it takes to full up your parfait glass!
Did you make this recipe?
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just do it on ice cream. do it.
72 Comments on “Salted Bourbon Vanilla Granola… with Caramelized Fig Parfaits.”
I said this yesterday but it deserves repeating….CONGRATULATIONS! What an awesome secret keeper you are! This granola looks amazing!
I’ve been thinking about you and your news ever since yesterday when I read your post, again massive congrats!
I haven’t made anything with figs in ages. Bourbon, well, that’s another story :) Looks great & pinned!
OH my gosh, I’m loving that that plumber must have been wondering…These look delicious and should I ever locate figs, I’d love to try. Why are they so hard to find?
Oooh, I can’t even with this! Looks AMAZING! My weekend mission will be fig finding.
Oh this looks so yummy! I just got my hands on some fresh figs as well, and I have to treat them like food GOLD. I only get a handful of good ones each year. Also, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since your announcement, which is totally creepy/weird considering that we’ve never met (invisible internet friends forever), but I am just so happy for you and Eddie :)
Perfect dinner for tonight! It looks sooooo good.
My in-laws who live in Pittsburgh have a fig tree! They’ve gotten multiple figs each year they’ve had it. Maybe you should give it a try!? Although, if your gardening skills are anything like mine, it’ll die :(
Congrats again on the baby news!
omg. i need to do this.
but yes, my gardening skills are crap.
Yes! I also live in PA and have a fig tree. It took a beating with all the snow this winter, but there isn’t too much work involved! (In general I think trees are easier than plants)
Yep, there’s totally hardy fig bushes/trees available in PA! Look for ‘Chicago’, one of the hardiest (garden centre owner here). It gets dark purple fruit with red/pink insides.
My aunt and uncle’s best friends here have a fig tree and they get tons of figs. In the fall, they wrap it up and insulate it so it survives the winter. They’ve had it for years!
We actually have our own fig tree and grow our own figs (how dorky is that)
But at least I have the figs to try this recipe!
Looks stunning. Would love to serve this up to company and impress them =)
what. not dorky! amazing!
I like the title! Figs are so romantic looking, but I never seem to make anything with them. I definitely need to try this….so easy and so sophisticated at the same time!
Yum! I just had some caramelized fig yogurt gelato and I’m totally on a fig and yogurt thing now. That granola sounds like the perfect compliment…and it’s health food! Need to make this immediately.
I have actually never bought figs before. After reading this I really think I need to….
You’re so right that there’s nothing like a fresh fig. This looks amaze!!
Are you KIDDING ME? I think I may have to surprise my ice cream obsessed boyfriend with this :)
Never had figs, now I’m going to have to…. these look amazing and well deserve the title!
I totally feel you on the awkward moments while pregnant situation. I was grocery shopping and picked up a 6-pack for the hubs (I’m 29 weeks) and wanted to run around screaming IT’S FOR MY HUSBAND! So many judging eyes…
Vanillaaaaa! Yes to it ALL. Laughing about the plumber…and truck-ripened figs. ;)
I want to move across the country so i can have a peach tree, lemon tree and avocado tree!! And these New England winters are getting to me!
Figs are finicky! i bought some like a week ago and they’ve been hiding in my fridge since, I should probably go check on those…if they’re good I’ll make these parfaits of deliciousness!!
Ahhhh figs, I haven’t seen them at the store lately, and this is making me miss them!
OOOH yeah girl! This looks awesome. Fig season is so on right now.
Yes I am so into breakfast with caramel! I might have been brave enough to add booze to mine but I did a banana burlee version a month back. I swear when I get my hands on figs I am trying this too!
Boozy granola is my favorite! Looks great!!
Forgot to post on your announcement: BIG CONGRATULATIONS! What an awesome way of spreading the news – i love it!
Are you telling me it’s okay to have bourbon at breakfast? I absolutely love figs and they are even more of a bitch to get hold of here in the uk, currently £3 for 4 figs – scary!
Basically the upshot of this comment is you’ve got me going out for overpriced figs, bourbon and running the risk of a similar delivery man moment (except I’m not preggo) and I’m happy about it because I’ll get to put this amazing recipe in ma belly!
x
Congrats on your big news! So exciting! I’m also in love with figs. My parents had a fig tree that they were baby-ing and last year it finally produced tons of figs. My mom was nice enough to share & they were amazing. Then the ridiculously cold winter we had killed the tree, so now we’re without them again. Back to dried figs again.
I just made this and had it for dinner – awesome! Thanks for this, it’s just what I needed after a long day! :)
What a fun post! That granola looks like incredible stuff, as do the figs, as does the whole package. Yum!!!
WAIT
Does this mean it’s fig season now?! *Runs to grocery store*
This looks fabbbbb. The kind of fab where you have to draw out your letters. Why wasn’t this my breakfast instead of a cookie bar that I reasoned was fine because it included fresh cherries??
P.s.—Crongrats again!!!
This is probably one of THE most elegant parfait desserts I have ever encountered. I love it! Intriguing, unique and delicious. Nice job.
I love your recipes girl and again a HUGE CONGRATS to you n Eddie!!
Huge congrats! I pretty much love everything about this recipe. Figs, bourbon, granola. It all works.
Craving this right now!
I made the granola as soon as I read your post this morning, amazing!! You weren’t joking, I’ve found a new fav as well!!
That looks amazing! Love the flavors!
I have been looking for a good granola recipe for a while and this looks divine. I’m sure this would work well with peaches and nectarines (or both) as well. Looking forward to trying it as one of my favorite breakfasts is yogurt, granola and fruit. Merci!
Looks wonderful. Want to try but since my house is alcohol free what should I replace it eith
The plumber story is hilarious!!! Also–FIGS. So good.
Fig are just soo delicious and so is bourbon. I am willing to bet I would love this recipe. Sounds delicious :)
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
This recipe deserves its fancy title – it looks amazing!
This looks so ridiculous and delicious and salted bourbon vanilla?! Swooning right now!
http://youtube.com/addalittlefood
This looks amazing! I adore granola and homemade is the best, going to have to try this :)
Congrats! So wonderful!
This recipe is awesome—I have two half-empty bottles of bourbon in the cabinet and have been wondering what to do about that. Now i know.
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I’m anxiously waiting for figs to appear where I live so I can make this. Amazing!
Do you store the granola in mason jars? How long do you think it lasts?
Congrats on baby!!! eee!!
i usually store mine in a large ziplock bag, just because i always have too much for mason jars. i’d say it stays fresh about a week – but we usually eat it in a few days!
REEEEE. Diculous! Making immediately! I have been unable to find vanilla bean paste as of yet, suggested source? Are there any approximate conversions of vanilla extract for the paste?
And may your pregnancy be deliciously sweet (:
YES this is amazeballs and I need it NOW!
This looks so insanely delicious! I’m sitting here in envy though…I seriously always seem to miss fresh fig season! yum!!
Looks so good!
Haha that bourbon story is kinda funny :) But all joking aside, this parfait looks awesome! I’m so into figs now thanks to TJs and their frozen ones! But I think fresh would probably be the only way to go here!
I was about to let you know that in this country ‘knocked-up’ means – well, bun in the oven, expecting – oh, heck, preggers, when I realised that that was what you were trying to tell me yesterday or the day before when my brain was so fogged I wasn’t taking much in. So forget that, and congratulations instead. This current notion of absolutely no alcohol worries me a tad. I had two children who are now both older than you and I drank the odd glass of wine during their ingestion and as far as I can tell no harm came of it.
The other thing I wanted to draw your attention to is that a parfait is strictly speaking icecream. I am not sure when this other meaning came along, ie, that of layering things in tall glasses, but all my old books on making icecream refer to the delishus concoction as parfait. Just so you know.
I love reading your column. Often I hate the sound of whatever you are writing about, but you do make me laugh. Well done and keep it up. Please.
Ok, I need all of these components in my life ASAP!