Do you ever see a picture of some kind of food and immediately need to make it? Well that’s what happened with this Pumpkin Spice Granola. I saw on Instagram that my friend Rina from A Foodie’s Harmony had just posted a recipe for Pumpkin Maple Granola. I love granola but never buy it because it’s usually loaded with lots of sugar and oil. What drew me to this recipe was the fact that it had pumpkin in it and it’s sweetened with only maple syrup.
I happened to have some pumpkin leftover from my Pumpkin Banana Bread and knew this would be the perfect recipe to try. I made a few small changes to the original recipe and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. It’s crunchy, not too sweet, and so satisfying. In fact, it’s so good that I made this twice in one week. It’s so addictively good and I don’t feel bad about eating it.
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Mix in variations
So simple to make and only one bowl is required to throw everything together. You can customize this to whatever you have on had. My mix ins were slightly different from the original recipe. I really love the combination of the coconut and chopped walnuts in the granola.
This recipe would also work well with almost any type of nut. Pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, or macadamia nuts would all be amazing. Other options include pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.
2. Place everything into a medium bowl
3. Mix everything together
4. Spread granola on parchment lined baking sheet
You could substitute out the coconut chips with dried cranberries, raisins, or currants. If you are adding dried fruit, I would suggest adding it in after baking. You don’t want bake the dried fruit.
Chocolate chunks or chocolate chips are another mix in option. Once the granola had baked and cooled, feel free to throw in any chocolate of your choice. I am partial to dark chocolate but semi-sweet would also work.
I really enjoyed this Pumpkin Spice Granola over yogurt, but I also found myself eating by the handful. You could also have a bowl of granola with some milk of your choice. Sprinkle on top of some pancakes or waffles for a nice textural element.
Do you enjoy granola? What are your favorite mix ins?
Pumpkin Spice Granola
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut chips, torn into pieces
- 1/3 cup raw walnuts, chopped
- 1/3 cup pure pumpkin puree, (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/4 cup light olive oil, or any neutral oil
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, (optional if you like extra cinnamon)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients together. Making sure to thoroughly mix so the pumpkin evenly coats everything and there are no lumps of pumpkin visible.
- Pour onto your prepared baking pan and spread out evenly.
- Bake for 10 minutes and then give the granola a good stir. Bake for anther 10 minutes and stir again. Cook for another 10 minutes, or until the coconut chips are golden brown.
- Cool completely on the baking pan and store in an airtight container up to two weeks
Notes
- I used unsweetened coconut flakes as that is what I had on hand. You could also use unsweetened shredded coconut if you can’t find the flakes. I would not recommend sweetened coconut.
- Make sure your pumpkin is pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling.
- See above for some possible mix in variations.
If you make any of my recipes, be sure to tag me on Instagram @amysdeliciousmess and use #amysdeliciousmess. I’d love to see all of your pictures!
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