PUMPKIN-CRUNCH GRANOLA
When I get to eat a sweet and satisfy a crunch with good-for-me complex carbs – that’s a good day! This mix is everything you love a granola to be. Slightly sweet, spicy, nutty, crunchy, nice-sized chunks, and lots of oats.
Oh, and it makes your house smell like Pumpkin Pie. There’s never anything awful about that.
Add this to some Greek-style yogurt with a Gold Caramel Sauce swirl – super. In a bowl with a little almond milk – fabulous. Sprinkled as a crust on Apple Crisp – so good.
Don’t leave out the egg yolk – it’s for the “clump factor”. Without the stickiness that sugar gives the clumps are lost! Adding some chopped dried cranberries/cherries/raisins or some chocolate chunks would be wonderful, too.
(Thanks to Lynne for the inspiration!)
Personally, I think this is better as it sits, so I’d make it ahead and store for a day or two!
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1/4 cup pure pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sugar-free maple syrup (OR agave)
1/3 cup Whey Low Gold (OR Splenda Granular)
2 tablespoons sugar free Caramel Syrup (OR Vanilla, Toffee, Hazelnut…etc) OR add 2 T. more of maple syrup
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice (OR 1 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t. ginger, 1/4 t. cloves, 1/8 t. nutmeg)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup chopped pecans (OR walnuts, macadamia nuts, coconut, etc)
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In a medium bowl combine the pumpkin, agave, WL Gold, caramel syrup, egg yolk, spice, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the oats and nuts until every flake is coated.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Coat a 11 inch baking sheet with vegetable cooking spray and spread the oat mixture evenly. Bake for 45-60 minutes (stirring every 15 minutes) or until deep brown. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container. Makes approx 15 (1/4-cup) servings.
Per 1/4 cup: Calories 119; Protein 6 g; Fat 8 g; NET Carbs 11 g; (Fiber4 g); Sugar 4 g; Sodium 41 mg
With Agave: Per 1/4 cup: Calories 135; Protein 6 g; Fat 8 g; NET Carbs 16 g; (Fiber 4 g); Sugar 8 g; Sodium 41 mg
eatingwelllivingthin.wordpress.com 
I love pumpkin and I love granola. I can’t wait to try this. It looks delicious!
Hi Linda, I am active on the BE site and actually miss seeing you there. I made this granola today and OMG it is so yummy! I am taking a little bag in to my trainer tomorrow as he is very interested in how I “eat”. I can’t wait for him to see just how well us WLS people can eat if we are mindful to. Thanks for all your recipes. I have not found yet I didn’t love.
Kathy~
Linda linda linda…
my house smells divine!!!
I ❤ you 🙂
My problem is finding pumpkin puree this time of year. I’ve been to 2 different stores, and no one has it! AAAHHHH! I’ll keep looking. I love your Nutty Granola recipe, so I’m anxious to see how this compares. I also highly recommend Eggface’s Click’n Granola, using Click Protein Powder. Can you tell I’m a granola fan? 🙂
I made this and it so good! Thanks for the recipe!
uh oh! i made this again this morning…..added chocolate chips…forgot the vanilla 😦 think it will turn out ok?
Hi Linda,
Any suggestions on how we could turn this into Granola Bars?
They would be great to take to work for my afternoon blahs.
I would try adding the WHOLE EGG, and maybe a couple more tablespoons of agave – with the Whey Low Gold (which is stickier than Splenda), that should help them hold together. Press into a parchment paper or foil lined pan, with ends hanging over two edges of the pan, or grease a pan VERY well. Bake for 30 minutes or until deep golden brown.
Allow to cool completely, then lift the bars out with the paper/foil and cut into bars. (I read a lot of granola bar recipes and this one looks like it should work. One thing they all have in common is a lot of brown sugar and honey. But the clumps in this recipe do stick together pretty well…so it should work!)
oo yes yes yes!! I love pumpkin granola and this one looks great!
Love this in my yogurt!!! I am making another batch today!
This looks so tasty! I’m a granola fanatic, thanks for the great new recipe!
I made this last night…my 16 year old son really liked it. He said the house smelled like Christmas!!! Thanks for a low sugar snack recipe!! Delicious!!!
I made it with toasted pecans…ohmygoodness, so delicious! 😀 Thanks for the recipe!
I really love this recipe I’ve made it several time I actually have it taped to the inside of my cabnit. I add dried fruit to it. yummmy
Michelle…Thank you so much for your review…and I’m glad you love it enough to tape it to the inside of your cabinet!! It’s a great memory for me because my mom used to tape her favorite-most-often-used recipes there, too. And so do I!!
Happy baking!!
This looks delicious!~I love granola/desserts/sweets with oats….here is one of my favorite recipes healthified no bake cookies ;)…if you do make them i would love to know what you think
http://healthynbalanced.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/healthified-chocolate-no-bake-cookies/
Linda you are a genius again. I must have made this dozens of times since you published it.
The egg yolk is THE MAGIC of this. You may be interested in a few things I dicovered:
-if you use a convection oven, you don’t have to stir it.
-it can be in the oven 1 1/2hrs for even more crunch
-unsweetened applesauce can be used instead of pumpkin with same results
– another 1 1/2 c. of raisins, flax, and sunflower seeds can be added and still be coated well.
This is JUST ONE of your amazing recipes I use regularly
THANK YOU
This look amazing! But I don’t have any pumpkin… Could I used pureed squash? Or banana? Or applesauce?
The pureed squash would work fine – butternut, acorn, etc. I would DEFINITELY try out the banana or applesauce – I think those would be wonderful, too!
i made this for the first time in a while tonight..i forget how amazing it makes my house smell! i used 2 different trail mixes this time and did a double batch….i love the addition of chocolate chips or a few m and ms as well….it’s a nice surprise when you get lucky and get one!! 🙂
I made this today and OMG…my kitchen smells amazing! I added some soy nuts and some sunflower seeds. It’s an awesome recipe and I love it! Thanks!
This looks so very good, I love pumpkin!.