pumpkin spice granola

I recently shared a trial batch of this pumpkin spice granola with a friend, and she liked it so much that she asked for a demo on granola making. She can now attest that granola isn't hard to make, it's so easy to customize, and the results are satisfying. I love being able to have exactly what I want in my pantry and not having to spend a lot of time, effort, or money.

Click here for the printable recipe.

Pumpkin Spice Granola
Makes approximately 2 quarts

Ingredients
3 cups rolled oats (not the quick cooking or steel cut)
2 tbs coconut oil
1 tbs cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt, heaping
1/3 cup Demerara sugar (cane sugar) or white sugar
5 tbs pureed pumpkin
1 tbs vanilla
3/4 - 1 cup total raw pumpkin seeds and finely chopped pecans
2-3 tbs ground flax seeds (optional)

Preheat your oven to 325 and line a large rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.

In a 12 inch skillet over medium heat, lightly toast the oats for 4-6 minutes. Either remove the oats from the pan temporarily, or make room in the pan to add the oil, spices (cinnamon through salt), and sugar. Toast the spices and melt the sugar for about 30 seconds.

Off heat, add the pumpkin and vanilla to the spiced oil. Stir in the pecans and flax. Coat as best as you can and then stir everything with the oats.

Spread the mixture evenly over the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for about 25 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes. Remove from the oven when the granola appears fairly dry.

Compact the granola together to form a 1/2 inch thick granola slab. Let it cool completely, then store in an air-tight container for about a week or freeze indefinitely.