Pumpkin Granola – Not Just For Breakfast!
This is the time of year pumpkin and pumpkin spice are found everywhere. This pumpkin granola hits all the marks when it comes to tasty healthy breakfast, snacking or other uses.
It’s perfect for breakfast. Most mornings, I grab a bowl of granola and yogurt along with a cup of chai in the morning. The warming spices hit the spot on these cool fall mornings. But it’s definitely great for more than just breakfast. I will, on occasion, add granola to my lunch salad, and also keep a baggie of granola with additional dried fruit added in the car for when I find myself hungry while doing errands. I also use the granola in cookies or raw power balls and definitely on top of banana nice cream, yum!
The bulk of this pumpkin granola can be oats with nuts, seeds and dried fruit or the oats can be omitted if you don’t want the grains. Remember though that oats are a great source of protein, vitamins and minerals, so if you tolerate them, find gluten free organic oats to add to this recipe.
The nut and seeds can really be any combination you like. I typically add sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds and then walnuts, almonds and pecans. I like crunchy granola and adding variety increases the nutrient diversity. But you can certainly trim down the additions and stick with just seeds, or just nuts or one or two of your favorites.
Dried fruit can vary also, but with the pumpkin flavors in this granola I like dried cranberries- it just makes it all the more fall inspired.
The pumpkin binder in this granola is a combination of pumpkin purée, honey, maple syrup, molasses, pumpkin spice and a little oil. You cook this for a bit and then stir it into the oats, seeds & nuts.
Pumpkin Granola
Ingredients
- 4 cups gluten free oats
- 1/2 cup walnuts chopped
- 1/2 cup pecans chopped
- 1/2 cup almond chopped
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 Tbs molasses
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 Tbs coconut oil grape seed or mild olive oil
- 2 tsp pumpkin spice combine cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2-1 cup dried cranberries substitute dried fruit of choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.Combine the oats, nuts and seeds in a large mixing bowl. You can use whatever combination of nuts and seeds, more or less, or omitting the oats and adjusting them to the overall for a total of 6.5 cups.
- In a small saucepan, combine the honey, maple syrup, pumpkin puree, molasses, water and oil. Bring to a simmer, stirring to combine. Let simmer for five minutes. It will foam up, so keep an eye on it and stir so that it doesn’t boil over.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, spice and salt.
- Pour this over the oat & nut mixture and use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir to coat everything well.
- Transfer the mixture onto two sheet pans. Bake for 15 minutes. Stir and bake for another 15 minutes, rotating the sheet pans on the shelves.The granola may be done at this point, if it’s golden brown. If not bake for an additional 15 minutes, remove and let cool. The granola crisps up as it cools.
- When the granola has cooled, add the desired dried fruit.Store in an airtight container for up to a month.
