Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Granola

I love pumpkin, and I love granola. And to my luck, I came across this pumpkin spice granola recipe. I changed it up a little, and it's so good! I lessened the sugary ingredients to make it healthier (and more diabetic friendly).

6 cups old-fashioned oats (not instant)

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. honey

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. pumpkin spice

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp. peanut butter (optional) 

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place oats in a large bowl. In a separate smaller bowl, mix together pumpkin, brown sugar, honey, vanilla, spices, and salt. Pour over oats and mix together until everything is moistened. Spread evenly onto a large silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet (or 2 smaller ones). (If you don't have a silpat or parchment or wax paper to line the pan, you can just lightly grease it, which is what I did.) 

 

Bake in oven for about 15-20 minutes. Take out pan. Using a large spatula, flip the granola in batches. Disturb it as little as you can if you like lots of clusters. If you don't care about clusters, just stir it around as much as you please and break it up a bit with your spoon or spatula. Place back in oven and bake for about 10-20 more minutes. It will kind of depend on oven temp and how thin you're able to spread the granola on your pan(s). 

 

Remove from oven and allow to cool undisturbed. It should continue to crunch up as it cools.  Once cool, break up any clusters you feel are too large. If you want, mix in a few handfuls of chopped almonds and craisins and store in an airtight container. 

I had some granola start to burn around the edge of the pan, so I turned down the temp just a little bit. My baking time increased because I didn't have enough pans so I had to rotate and do a few batches. I didn't cluster together as much as I should have, so right now I have a big mixture of some clusters, and some loose granola. But, that's okay because I eat granola plain, in yogurt, as cereal, in smoothies, etc.

Rating: This recipe was really easy, and quick to make! Not to mention, you can eat granola with a lot of things, and it's healthy!