Crunchy Pumpkin Granola

This easy and healthy Crunchy Pumpkin Granola is made with real pumpkin! It has tons of fall goodies like pecans, pumpkin spice and pumpkin seeds!

Crunchy Pumpkin Granola:

You guys this crunchy pumpkin granola is the best thing EVER!!!!!  I have made several batches of this trying to get it just right.  I wanted to make a pumpkin granola using pumpkin puree and it took a bit getting the right amount of pumpkin and the best oven temp.

Too much pumpkin and everything was soggy and same with too low of an oven temp.  But if I went to high it burned the outer edges before the middle was done.  It was a hard job but someone had to do it (I willingly signed up!)

This granola is awesome for breakfast on its own with a little milk or even almond milk.  It’s great made into a yogurt parfait too!!  But you know how I like it even better……as a snack, by itself!  I was taking a handful every time I walked by.

You could make a nice lazy morning brunch with this granola, Hashbrown Sausage Breakfast Pie, or this Sausage Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole.   Also add in these Pumpkin Streusel Muffins.

You’re welcome. 🙂

In other words, you guys need to find any excuse to get this granola in your life immediately!!  And trust me….making homemade granola couldn’t be easier and it’s way more budget friendly.  Aaaaannnnd this granola is actually good for you because it’s filled with real ingredients and no funny business.

This would make a great Christmas gift or even a nice housewarming gift.  Make a gift basket with this crunchy pumpkin granola, a jar of Easy Pumpkin Butter and some Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice!  Add in some nice English muffins, good quality chocolate and maybe even some coffee and a mug.  Now, that would be a wonderful gift basket!

So, a little about this granola:

• This granola is gluten free if you make sure all your ingredients are certified gluten free.
• It can be made vegan if you replace the honey with maple syrup plus it will add another level of flavor!
• I am using coconut oil to help keep it healthy but if you don’t have that on hand you can use any light flavored oil or if you are an olive oil fanatic use that.
• I used pecans and almonds but feel free to sub in other nuts such as walnuts or even pistachios.  Both would be really delicious in this granola!  Just use 1 cup roughly chopped nuts.
• Feel free to change up the dried fruit as well.  I used dried cranberries and golden raisins because it looked so pretty (it also tasted really good too) but cut up some dried apricot and toss that in or dried apples.  Just use about 1 cup of dried fruit.
• Some other great stir in options once the granola is cooled: butterscotch chips, caramel chips, chocolate chips or any that suit your fancy.
• This recipe is designed to make a granola with large clusters but if you prefer yours to be loose stir your granola 3 times while it’s baking and stir it once it’s removed from the oven.

So as you can see there are so many options to really customize this granola to your liking!  It has become a fall staple in our house and I have been eating it for breakfast almost every day now!  Be sure to make a batch and tag me on IG using #countrysidecravings so I can see!!

Watch our video on how to make our Crunchy Pumpkin Granola:

Crunchy Pumpkin Granola

Course: Breakfast, Breakfast/ Brunch, Snack

Cuisine: American

This easy and healthy Crunchy Pumpkin Granola is made with real pumpkin! It has tons of fall goodies like pecans, pumpkin spice and pumpkin seeds!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 8 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 18 minutes minutes

Author: Malinda Linnebur

Print Recipe Save RecipeSaved!

Ingredients

• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup flaxseed meal
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds pepitas
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup coconut oil or another light flavored oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup dried fruit if using large pieces of fruit cut into smaller pieces

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet, set aside.
• In a large bowl combine the oats, flaxseed meal, almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin pie spice and salt.
• In another bowl combine the honey, pumpkin puree, coconut oil, and vanilla. Add to the oatmeal mixture and stir well to combine. Spread onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 1 hr 10 min or until golden around the edges. Let cool completely on pan before breaking up. After cooled using a spatula break into desired sized pieces and stir in dried fruit. Store in a container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Notes

1. This granola is gluten free if you make sure all your ingredients are certified gluten free.
2. It can be made vegan if you replace the honey with maple syrup plus it will add another level of flavor!
3. I am using coconut oil to help keep it healthy but if you don't have that on hand you can use any light flavored oil or if you are an olive oil fanatic use that.
4. I used pecans and almonds but feel free to sub in other nuts such as walnuts or even pistachios.  Both would be really delicious in this granola!  Just use 1 cup roughly chopped nuts.
5. Feel free to change up the dried fruit as well.  I used dried cranberries and golden raisins because it looked so pretty (it also tasted really good too) but cut up some dried apricot and toss that in or dried apples.  Just use about 1 cup of dried fruit.
6. Some other great stir in options once the granola is cooled: butterscotch chips, caramel chips, chocolate chips or any that suit your fancy.
7. This recipe is designed to make a granola with large clusters but if you prefer yours to be loose stir your granola 3 times while it's baking and stir it once it's removed from the oven.