When I first decided to make granola to feature this month’s honey theme, I knew I wanted to do something unique but not so weird that no one would possibly want to make this recipe!

I realized that the perfect recipe would be something that honors my adopted home state, Arkansas. After all, this is being featured on Arkansas Women Bloggers! I started to research what flavors are known for being from Arkansas and had to discard quite a few ideas at first. After all, who wants queso granola? Not me!

I knew I wanted to celebrate the state’s history of being a major producer of various apples, especially the Arkansas Black. Those apples aren’t available right now, so I chose Red Delicious.

I also think of chocolate gravy when I think of Arkansas food so I initially tried to incorporate chocolate from Kyya, the state’s first bean-to-bar chocolate makers (full disclosure: friends of mine!). I decided that apple and chocolate would be delicious, but more of a dessert granola.

So, I called on my ARWB sisters for help. They gave lots of great ideas for incorporating Arkansas into my granola including one idea I took as a joke at first: bacon. Yes, bacon granola! I researched it out of curiosity and discovered that bacon granola is actually pretty popular, especially for the paleo crowd.

Another suggestion was pecans, which I would have incorporated anyways because I love pecans and I know it’s the state nut.

So, Arkansas Granola was born. It is quite simple and uses entirely natural ingredients with no added sugars or sodium. It uses fresh apples, Petit Jean Bacon, pecans, oats, cinnamon and nutmeg. The binding agent is good old-fashioned honey, which gives just a hint of natural sweetness that doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the flavors.

Ready to try this recipe? You can check it out on my blog Sunflowers & Thorns. Let me know what you think!

Jamie Smith tells people she grew up in Kansas and became a grownup in Northwest Arkansas. A writer by profession, Jamie also loves to write as a hobby over at her personal blog, Sunflowers & Thorns. One of her most popular types of blogs are her recipes. Jamie and her husband, John, enjoy working on recipes together to make their own unique twist on familiar recipes.

Jamie and John live in Elkins with their two dogs and two cats.