I hope everyone had a great weekend! Mine was jam-packed with fun activities. Friday night Heather and I got dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant then went to see The Mortal Instruments. Heather was a big fan of the books, which I’ve never read, but I thought the movie was pretty good. Saturday morning we went to Body Pump where I managed to stay up on my toes for all 10 push-ups in the shoulder track! 🙂 They weren’t full-on 90 degree “real woman” push-ups though so I’m not counting it as something I can cross off my bucket list just yet!
On Saturday, we went to the Toby Keith concert and had absolutely beautiful weather. Toby Keith is one of my all-time favorite performers to see in concert. He just puts on such a show, and you really can’t compete with someone who’s been making hits for 20-ish years. Heather and I did lots of dancing, and really enjoyed ourselves.
On Saturday I also decided to make some more granola (because I ran out) and decided to make a pumpkin version to celebrate the fact that I found canned pumpkin in the grocery store! I used the same basic recipe as before, but changed it up a little to accommodate the pumpkin and the pumpkin pie spices. It turned out delicious! It’s a different type of granola than my last recipe though. The last recipe was very crisp and not very clumpy – but this version has a lot more chunks and the chunks are crisp on the outside but chewy in the center, because of the pumpkin. I think it’s a delicious new texture for granola!
Pumpkin Pie Granola
Makes 5 1/2 cups.
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– 4 1/2 cups oats
– 1 cup pecan bits, or chopped pecans (optional – but they just seem to go with pumpkin to me!)
– 1 tablespoon cinnamon
– 1 teaspoon ground cloves
– 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
– 1 teaspoon kosher salt
– 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
– 1 can pumpkin puree
– 3 tablespoons honey (or maple syrup or other sweetener)
Mix all ingredients together. I found that because of the pumpkin it takes a while to really get it all incorporated. Spread the mixture onto a greased baking pan (I used coconut oil), breaking up any big chunks as you go. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until crisp.
I added pecans to this granola because pecans and pumpkin seem to go hand-in-hand to me. I think it’s because every year for Thanksgiving my mom makes a pecan pie (because it’s my stepdad’s favorite) and a pumpkin pie (because it’s my favorite). Either way, it turned out delicious! 🙂
Foxy [Whole] Foodie 
Man this sounds yummy! Minus the pecans.. meh. I love pumpkin pie spice and anything pumpkinny!
Me too! I love finding new things to make pumpkin-y : it’s one of my favorite flavors! The pecans can definitely be left out or swapped with another nut 🙂
And btw congrats on your awesome results from the Crossfit competition!
I made some pumpkin pie granola too last year when the pumpkins were ripe – I think it’s one of my favourite granola recipes yet – I love the idea of adding pecans, so I’ll try them next time.
I agree! I can’t get enough of pumpkin 🙂
YUM! I love all things pumpkin, and have been looking for a good granola recipe 🙂
I love all things pumpkin too 🙂 If you want a standard granola recipe, my Maple Walnut Granola (which I linked to in this post) is my go to recipe – it’s delicious!
This looks really good. I made some pumpkin cookies with cinnamon cream cheese frosting last night since it felt like fall and I decided that it should also taste like fall.
That sounds delicious! 🙂 I’m definitely ready for fall and trying to encourage it by cooking fall foods 🙂
This sounds wonderful! Any suggestions for a substitution for the coconut oil?
You can replace the coconut oil with any oil (vegetable, canola, olive) that you like! 🙂 Usually I wouldn’t suggest olive oil because the I don’t think the taste would go with granola – but I think with the pumpkin it would go nicely! But any light colored oil will work fine!
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