It was the pumpkin shortage of 2015 that prompted me to create a stockpile of the canned squash in my pantry. I don’t bake with pumpkin often, but the fear of *possibly* not being able to was enough to get me throwing cans in my cart every time I strolled down the baking aisle.
Fast forward to the present and nearly all the cans I purchased are stacked neatly where I placed them 2 years ago. With an expiration date set for February, I’ve been fervently trying to use them up lest they go to waste.
Enter pumpkin granola. Not just pumpkin spice granola. Granola baked with pumpkin as a binder. The idea came from my peanut butter banana granola bars that use mashed bananas to hold everything together. Same concept, but this granola gets twice-baked to develop a beautiful, crunchy texture.
This granola is good. Good in way that can only come from homemade granola. I was never big into granola. I even spent 5 years avoiding it completely. But when I learned to make it myself, that was a game changer. Fresh granola is a thing of beauty and being in control of the ingredients means no junk. Just ingredients of my choosing.
This granola is yummy to snack on it’s own, topped with milk, or crumbled on yogurt. It’s sweetened with amber honey and spiced with warm turmeric and cinnamon. If you love granola and need an excuse to use up some pumpkin, give this recipe a go and tell me about it in the comments below!
Clumpy Golden Pumpkin Honey Granola
- 3 Cups Quick Cooking Oats
- 1/2 Cup Sliced Almonds
- 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Seeds
- 1/2 Shredded Coconut
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Oil
- 3/4 Cup Pumpkin Puree
- 1/2 Cup Honey
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 1 Tsp Cinnamon
- 1 Tsp Turmeric
- 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 Tsp Coriander
- 1/4 Tsp Cloves
Preheat the oven to 350. Add the oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and coconut to a baking sheet and place in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the ingredients are toasted.
While the oat mixture is toasting, melt the coconut oil and add to a large bowl with the pumpkin puree, honey, and spices. Stir to combine then add the toasted oat mixture to the bowl. Toss the ingredients together until the oats are evenly coated.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dump the mixture onto the pan. Press the mixture together into a flat rectangle about half an inch thick, as if you were making granola bars. Bake for about 40 minutes until the outside of the granola is starting to turn brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before breaking up the granola into large chunks and adding back to the pan. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the edges of the pieces are just starting to turn brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before storing in an air tight container. Granola will last for about a week.
