Homemade Pumpkin Pecan Granola

Ugh... practically every blogger right now is writing about how much they love Fall.  And though I wish I wasn't doing what everyone else is doing - I LOVE FALL!

Ok, I got that out of the way.  (even though it will probably come up again in the next 15 or 16 posts)

Something I really enjoy doing for myself and my family is finding simple ways to celebrate each season.  Fall is crazy easy to enjoy, right?  The only way a person might conceivably NOT enjoy Fall is if they shut themselves inside their window-less home for three months and forced all pumpkin and cinnamon and apple flavored/scented/decorated things be checked at the door. And even then, I still think some Fall loveliness would seep in and they'd be stuck enjoying it, even despite their best attempts not to.

The past few years I've prepared a special breakfast for our family to celebrate the first day of Fall.  This year I was out of town for the first day, but I WILL NOT let the celebration slide!  It's tomorrow morning.  So today, one of the things I did to get ready was make Pumpkin Pecan Granola.  It's delish!  And I'll tell you about it here...

Pumpkin Pecan Granola Recipe

(pst!  it's healthy!)

Dry Ingredients

8 cups rolled oats

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup oat bran

1 cup flaxseed meal

1 cup slivered natural almonds

2 cups finely chopped pecans

"Wet" Ingredients

1 cup pumpkin puree (I use canned, but I'm sure fresh is fab!)

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup (use real maple syrup if you can!!  better flavor, better for you!)

3/4 cup honey

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 (heaping) T. pumpkin pie spice

1 T. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl or pot.  Set aside.

Combine all the wet ingredients in a medium pot.  Stir regularly over a medium flame, careful not to let bubbles spurt hot pumpkin stuff all over you!  It won't come to a boil, but heat it through well (until the spurting bubbles become too much!)

Stir the wet mix into the dry ingredients.  Stir well to coat evenly.  (It helps to be a body builder to do this or to have a husband with strong biceps who's willing to wield a mixing spoon.)  

Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Spread granola evenly on both.  

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.  (I tend to bake it on the long side to crisp it up a bit.) Stir half way through.  

Allow to cool completely before storing.  I store half in a tupperware in our cereal cupboard, and the rest in a gallon ziploc bag to save for later.  

This granola tastes great as is, but it's even better served with dried cranberries!

Enjoy!