As you may know, I looooove granola. I grew up eating my mom’s homemade granola and have been looking for an excuse to make a new version.

Well, I was talking with my brother recently and he mentioned that if I wanted to send him a package (which I do on occasion – usually with baked goods), to send him granola. Challenge accepted! And of course, since pumpkin season is here (as if you haven’t realized that from my plethora of pumpkin recipes), I decided to try to make some pumpkin granola to send him.

Warning – this stuff is really good if you like granola. And pumpkin. So good that my brother only got a small baggie (sorry, Greg, I promise you more if you visit!). But it’s also SO easy that you can make it and share it with friends! And really, this recipe is not much different from the original granola recipe – just has some more  spices and of course, pumpkin!

Pumpkin Granola

Here’s what you need:

• 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats, or organic oats (I used the amazing oats we got in our CSA)
• 1/2 cup flaxseed
• 1 cup your favorite dried fruit (you can use any combination of dried fruit – as usual, I used dried blueberries, dried cranberries and dried cherries)
• 1 cup your favorite nut, loosely chopped (I used almonds and cashews – but I imagine pumpkin seeds would work really well this time!)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 3/4 – 1 cup maple syrup (I used about 1 c. of what we had on hand which was pure maple syrup from Canada!)
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin

Here’s what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine oats, flaxseed, nuts, dried fruit in a large boil.
3. In a smaller bowl, combine brown sugar, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, maple syrup and pumpkin. Combine until well mixed.
4. Add brown sugar-pumpkin mixture to oat mixture. Mix well until oats, nuts, etc. are well and evenly coated.
5. Pour out onto a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes, checking and stirring at about 15-20 minutes and again at 30ish minutes. Careful not to let it burn!
7. Let cool and enjoy!

Nuts and dried fruit. Yum!

Enjoy!