Maple Pumpkin Granola
I have been ready for fall for a while. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the sunshine and warm weather as much as the next person, but not all the time. There is something so comforting about the changing leaves, a slight chill in the area and the coziness of drinking a cup of tea and baking on a Sunday afternoon when it’s grey out. I also think that pumpkin is an underrated squash that only really gets hype around Halloween and Thanksgiving and love using it in all my cooking, including both savory things and sweet.
I’ve been craving some hearty granola, but most of the stuff you buy in the store has a lot of sugar and is highly processed. I wanted some granola that had all of the flavors of fall I love so much, but without the refined sugar. My criteria also included something with healthy fat and lots of plant protein.
Enter my maple pumpkin granola. It’s sweetened with a little maple syrup and some apple juice, pecans and pumpkin seeds for crunch, raw pumpkin for some yummy pumpkin flavor, flax meal for heart healthy omega 3’s and coconut flakes for something a little different.
I am so happy with how this granola turned out, my kitchen smelled amazing and I could hardly wait to sample this when it came out of the oven. Not only is it delicious but it far exceeded my nutritional criteria and contains vitamins A and C, healthy fat, lots of protein, fiber and iron. I hope you will love this just as much as me, this was so easy to throw together in a few minutes and enjoy all week as breakfast or just a tasty snack.
Maple Pumpkin Granola
Prep Time : 10 minutes | Bake time : 45 minutes
Ingredients :
Dry
2 cups raw oats
2/3 cup raw pecans
2/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (can also use raw)
1/3 cup unsweetened raw coconut flakes
1/3 cup flax meal
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
Wet
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup apple juice unsweetened
2 tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 cup raw pumpkin
Instructions :
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix.
3. Combine apple juice, maple syrup and pumpkin in medium size bowl. Microwave coconut oil to melt and add to remaining wet ingredients.
4. Pour wet mixture over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly to coat.
5. Spread on a large cookie sheet to cover. Bake for 20 minutes and stir. Bake for additional 20-25 minutes until golden brown and remove from oven and allow to sit and cool.
Enjoy with almond milk or over yogurt or just by the handful which I ended up doing because it was too delicious to not snack on!