Pumpkin Granola ♥

Pumpkin Granola, another healthy breakfast ♥ A Veggie Venture
graphic button small size size 10 Homemade granola with oats, pumpkin seeds and nuts, lightly sweetened with maple syrup and brown sugar, gently spiced with our favorite fall spices. Vegan, gluten-free and high-protein. graphic button small size size 10

So you know that little ditty that goes, "Thirty days has September, April, June and November"? Ha! In food-blog-world, you'd think that November had just one day, the fourth Thursday aka Thanksgiving. So we'd best prepare ourselves for an onslaught of shouting. "Make this! No-no-no! Make this!"

I'm not without guilt myself, it's why A Veggie Venture has this amazing collection of Favorite Recipes for Thanksgiving's Favorite Vegetables. So while it's not yet written down, my Thanksgiving menu is pretty much set. Yours too? So let's concentrate on the other 29 days, shall we?

Let's start with breakfast. Or an after-school snack. Or a pocketful for an afternoon pick-me-up. This is the granola I've made a dozen times in the last year, even my 90-year old father, who looked at it some askance at first, is now happy to see it on the breakfast table.

RECIPE for PUMPKIN GRANOLA

Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Time to table: 90 minutes
Makes 10 cups (easily halved)

SPICED PUMPKIN: THE "WET"
2/3 cup (155g) canned pumpkin purée
2/3 cup (133g) brown sugar
1/2 cup (135g) maple syrup
3 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons (27g) vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

GRANOLA: THE "DRY"
5 cups (400g) old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick or instant)
2/3 cup (100g) raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
2/3 cup (100g) pecan pieces (black walnuts are amazing ...)

AFTER ROASTING
1 cup dried dried cranberries

Set oven to 325F/160C. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk together the Spiced Pumpkin wet ingredients. Add the Granola dry ingredients. Combine the two, really working the two together with a spatula, you want every single dry surface to be coated in the wet Spiced Pumpkin.

Spread the mixture evenly across the two baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for 20 - 25 minutes, stirring halfway through and checking frequently after 20 minutes. (Timing is a little tricky, you want the granola to be golden in color but also slightly soft straight from the oven since it will crisp up as it cools down. In my oven, 28 minutes yields a very crispy granola, 20 minutes a softer granola; together, they're quite perfect! But I think the sweet spot in my oven is 25 minutes.) If you want "clumps" of granola, let the granola cool without stirring, otherwise break it up once it's cool enough to handle.

After the granola cools, stir in the cranberries and transfer granola to an airtight container. Serve immediately or within a week if stored at room temperature or within two weeks if refrigerated. My favorite way to serve Pumpkin Granola is with half & half or cream topped with a little diced banana. Breakfast heaven ... thank goodness there are 30 days in November.

MAKE-AHEAD Pumpkin granola stays fresh-tasting for several days so go ahead, make a double batch when you've got company coming.

VARIATIONS Darn it all, I thought a chocolate-y version would be wonderful. It wasn't, the chocolate muddled the lovely spices. I'm working on a holiday variation, we'll see!

ALANNA'S TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
MAPLE SYRUP SUBSTITUTE I've also used sorghum, it's wonderful!
PUMPKIN PIE SPICE Use your own favorite mix or if you like, here's mine, it's with my recipe for Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I make a quadruple batch Pumpkin Pie Spice once or twice a year, it works in so many dishes! For your convenience, though, I've scaled it to make just enough for a single batch of Pumpkin Granola. Mix 4 teaspoons cinnamon, 1-1/3 teaspoons (yeah, weird, but it keeps the proportions spot-on) both ginger and nutmeg, 1 teaspoon both allspice and cardamom plus a pinch of ground clove. Soo good, this!
NO OLIVE OIL Olive oil has just too much grassy-ness going on, use a neutral oil like Crisco or canola. Before using the oil, give it a sniff. If it smells at all "off" then you'll want to use a new bottle. I've learned to buy only small bottles of oil, sacrificing price for freshness.
NO SILICONE MATS Use parchment for granola, the dry paper helps the granola dry as it roasts. I find that silicone captures the moisture, steaming the granola into a wet mess.
ONE TRAY AT A TIME Unless you're lucky enough to have two ovens, bake one tray at a time. Otherwise, the timing really gets screwed up; even swapping trays doesn't seem to help.



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A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the
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Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. Was wondering if I could use a lot less sugar. Maybe 1/3 c sugar and 1/4 c maple syrup?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sunny ~ It’s sure worth a shot, for sure. I’m always cutting back sugar but this mix doesn’t seem “sweet” to me, maybe because of the spices? Both the sugar and the maple syrup contribute to the stickiness that helps the granola clump, the texture might be a little softer and a little more individual grains vs clumps. Let me know how it goes -- you go first, okay?! :-)

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  3. This sounds like a wonderful snack. The flavor of pumpkin spice is one of the definitive features (and pleasures) of fall.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks so much Alanna. I now understand the reasons for the sugar amounts. Still may try it with just a little less. Will let you know.

    ReplyDelete

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe, whether a current recipe or a long-ago favorite. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. ~ Alanna