Pumpkin Spice Granola

🥣 Why We Love This Recipe

• Great for meal prep: We love making this recipe early on in the week and enjoying it throughout the week for breakfast or a quick snack. Best of all, it fills your house with an amazing fall scent, which makes it perfect to bake on a lazy Sunday morning.
• Super easy recipe: This is a simple recipe, with just 9 ingredients that need to be stirred together and then baked to crispy perfection. It only takes a few minutes of hands on work and the end result tastes even better than store-bought!
• Vegan and gluten free: We use coconut oil and maple syrup to keep this pumpkin spice granola totally vegan. It's also naturally gluten free, so it's perfect for just about any dietary restrictions!

🥄 Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need to make this pumpkin spice granola:

📋 Ingredient Notes

• Pumpkin spice blend: If you can't find any at the store, you can make your own. Just whisk together 2 tablespoons cinnamon, 2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1-2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½-1 teaspoon ground cloves and an optional ½ teaspoon allspice. You can multiply the batch and keep it on hand for other fall recipes like this pumpkin mousse and pumpkin pie oatmeal!
• Pumpkin purée: You should be able to find this in the baking aisle of your grocery store. Note that pumpkin purée is different from pumpkin pie filling – the latter typically contains added ingredients like spices and sugar. Purée should be 100% pumpkin with nothing else added.
• Pumpkin seeds/pepitas: Sunflower seeds are a great substitute if you can't get your hands on any pumpkin seeds.
• Pecans: feel free to sub with another nut like walnuts, almonds or cashews. To keep this recipe nut free, sub with more pumpkin seeds or another seed of choice.
• Coconut oil: another neutral oil will work in a pinch, but we love the subtle flavor coconut oil brings to this pumpkin spice granola.
• Oats: be sure to use old fashioned whole rolled oats in this granola, NOT instant or quick cooking oats.
• Maple syrup: you can sub with another liquid sweetener like agave, but we vastly prefer maple since it pairs so well with fall spices.

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

Prep: Preheat oven to 315°F.

(1) In a mixing bowl, whisk together melted coconut oil, pumpkin, maple syrup, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice.

(2) In a separate mixing bowl, stir together oats, pecans and pepitas. Pour wet mixture over oats and stir well until evenly coated. Spread mixture in an even layer on a baking sheet.

(3) Bake for 30 minutes, stir slightly to prevent burning, then return to oven for 15 minutes (45 min total bake time) or until granola is golden brown. Let cool completely before breaking up into clusters.

💭 Expert Tips and FAQs

• Storage: Store your homemade granola in an airtight glass jar or container. Homemade granola can last for up to a month or two if stored properly. We highly recommend these vacuum sealed containers, which keep food fresh up to 5x longer than regular tupperware. They're a great investment and work well for just about anything!
• Great for gifting: If you can refrain from eating the whole jar yourself, this granola also makes for a lovely DIY holiday gift. Simply package it in a beautiful glass jar and complete the package with a burlap ribbon and hand-written note!
• Serving suggestion: When it comes to eating this vegan pumpkin spice granola, there's really no wrong way to do it. I like to keep it simple with some oat milk and fresh berries. Raspberries are a particular favorite, but you could also opt for blueberries, strawberries, or even bananas.
• Serve atop yogurt, chia pudding, smoothie bowls, oatmeal, or even ice cream!
• Want super crispy, big granola clusters? Once you remove the granola from the oven, wait to break it up until it's completely cooled. This allows the granola to set so you can break it up as desired. If you stir the granola while it's still hot, it won't set up quite as well.
• Make it nut free: sub pecans with extra pepitas if you have a tree nut allergy. Coconut flakes are another great alternative. 

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