Pumpkin Granola

We're back in the kitchen! After a couple of weeks of illnesses with symptoms much like those of N1H1 (was it or wasn't it?) we are all coming along and I stepped back in the kitchen today and it felt great. I woke up this morning with a hankering for granola. Pumpkin granola, to be exact. I thought I had read on Facebook that one of my friends had gone off to Trader Joe's to get some. But I found none there. So I decided I would make my own. I already had the oats at home. I picked up some pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds), more Pumpkin Pie Spice, some dried cranberries, raisins and, for the pumpkin touch Pumpkin Butter which is a blend of pumpkin and lemon and honey and maple syrup and spices. I picked up a few ingredients for dinner and made my way home.

This recipe is delicious and could not be any easier to make!

You'll need:

18 oz. of Oats (not the quick cooking kind)

1/2 cup of canola oil

2 cups of pepitas

1 cup of raisins
1 cup of dried cranberries
(optional, semi sweet chocolate chips)

1 tbs of pumpkin pie spice
1 jar of Pumpkin butter

Preheat oven to 275 degrees

In a medium sized bowl add the pumpkin and the oil and mix well, set aside

In a large bowl add all the other ingredients, except for the spices. Toss to mix well.

Pour the pumpkin mixture over the oat mixture and mix well.

Line a brownie pan or jelly roll with wax or parchment paper.

Pour in oat mixture and press firmly into all corners.

Bake for 1 hour. After 1 hour increase the heat to 300 and bake another 20 minutes until nicely golden brown.

Remove pan from the oven onto a cooling rack for 20 - 30 minutes to let the oatmeal harden.

When cool break off into chunks into your large bowl. Sprinkle the Pumpkin Pie Spice, more or less, as your tastes prefer. I love the flavor of the granola. It's pleasantly pumpkin-ny, just a hint, without being too much so.

We love to snack on granola. We eat it with apple sauce, yogurt and ice cream. Eating it plain is good too. For a sweet treat add some chocolate chips to it!