Pumpkin Harvest Oatmeal

Happy Monday Morning.

Did you all have a fabulous weekend? Our weekend didn't go quite the way that I expected, but it still turned out to be pretty darn good. Yesterday we were supposed to put up our Christmas decorations, but sadly it was pouring rain and very muddy and we decided to put if off a few days because all of our decorations are stored in the shed in the backyard. Derek has some down time this coming week, so fingers crossed that our house will be completely "Christmas-fied" by the time next weekend rolls around. Have you decorated your house yet???

Since decorating was delayed, I decided to get busy in the kitchen and make a couple of things that had been brewing in my head. The first thing I did was to get a baked potato soup together in the crockpot for dinner. It  was really yummy and I'll be sharing the recipe with you later this week.

Once the crockpot was ready and simmering away, I got busy making a new granola. It's been a while since I did a batch and I've been dreaming about a pumpkin-flavoured granola since I was at my parents for Thanksgiving. So, I pulled out everything I had that would go great together and got to work.

Pumpkin Harvest Granola

This is a great granola that encompasses all the flavours of Fall. The nice thing about granola is that you can customize it to include anything you have in the cupboards. You also can sweeten it up to your liking and use any add-ins that make your mouth water ;-)

3 c old fashioned rolled oats

1 tbsp chia seeds

2 tbsp dried cranberries

1/4 c pepitas

1/4 c. pecan pieces

1/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut

1.5 tsp cinnamon

heaping 1/2 c pumpkin pie filling*

1/4 c tbsp maple syrup

3 tbsp canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

*Note - After posting this recipe, I've made a couple of minor changes to make it even better! I increased the amount of wet ingredients because I found that the granola wasn't quite as sweet and sticky as I would have liked. The recipe now reflects my changes.

 

Pre-heat your oven to 325. Line a large baking pan with parchment paper.

Combine your dry ingredients (oats, chia, cranberries, pepitas, pecans, coconut & cinnamon) in a large bowl. Stir to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together the  wet ingredients.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until well combined.

Pour your granola into your baking pan and spread out evenly.

Bake for 25 - 35 minutes. I've had many accidental granola burnings so I bake my granola at a low temperature and I stir every 5 to 7 minutes. It's ready when the granola is baked to a golden brown.

Store unused granola in an airtight container.

*Note - I thought that I bought pure pumpkin, but discovered it was actually pumpkin pie filling. You could easily use pure pumpkin and your own spices, but then you would have to sweeten it up with more maple syrup.

I'm really looking forward to eating this granola on top of some Greek yogourt sweetened with honey. Breakie is going to be goooo-ooood this week!!!

This would also make a great hostess gift if you stored it in a mason jar wrapped up in your fave ribbon.

Don't you love my fabric/ribbon choices???

This is a hint of what my new garland looks like :-D

Have you ever made your own granola before? If you have, what's your fave add-in?

I hope you have a fabulous start to your work week!

Andrea