It’s no secret that I’ve been playing with all things pumpkin this month. I tried two different pumpkin granola recipes in the same day and while they were both good and they both contributed to the amazing smell wafting out of our apartment, this one was the absolute favorite. I didn’t have white chocolate chips when I made it the first day so I went to the store specifically to buy white chocolate chips because I knew they would be the perfect addition to this mix of fall goodness. I found the original recipe on sallysbakingaddiction.com and I have to say that Sally is brilliant. This is the first recipe of hers that I’ve tried and we were very pleased. I loved that she used quinoa, which gave it an extra crunch. I was hesitant to use the coconut oil because I wanted this to taste like pumpkin granola and I was worried about the strong flavor of the coconut being too overpowering. I was extremely disappointed when I dipped my finger into the wet ingredients and tasted it because all I could taste was coconut. I stuck with it though and after it bakes and cools you really can’t taste the coconut flavor at all. That said, I omitted coconut shavings from my recipe and upped the amount of cranberries and added white chocolate chips. Sally’s the genius behind this recipe, and I’ve just tweaked it to fit our favorite tastes.

We’ve eaten this granola as a cereal with milk, with yogurt, and just plain, in handfulls. We’ve eaten it for breakfast, for a snack, at the park, in the car and on the couch. (And because I’m such a fabulous housecleaner there’s probably still evidence of that in all those places.) The only problem with it was that we didn’t make enough. If you stay tuned, I’m planning on using it to build a pumpkin granola parfait. Mmmmm… can’t wait. And I even have a new glass picked out for the picture. Mike’s gonna love that. 🙂

Ingredients

• 3 and 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2/3 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (or canola oil)
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a large bowl combine oats, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, next four spices, and salt. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites for 1-2 minutes or until slightly frothy. Whisk in pumpkin puree, maple syrup, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix until everything is evenly coated.
5. Spread the granola over the two baking sheets and bake for 40 minutes. Be sure to stir the granola every 10 minutes so it doesn’t burn. You can do this by pushing the granola from the edges into the middle of the sheet and spreading it out again.
6. To ensure a nice crunch, allow the granola to cool on the baking sheets for at least 20 minutes. As you take it out to let it cool, sprinkle the white chocolate chips on top.
7. After the granola has completely cooled, toss in the dried cranberries and store in an airtight container.

Recipe only slightly adapted from sallysbakingaddiction.com.