Ingredients
Scale
- 4 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
- 2 cups mixed seeds and/or nuts ~ I used 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 1/2 cup pecans, 1/2 cup peanuts, 1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 –4 Tablespoons maple syrup (depending on how sweet you want it … I used 2 T because I don’t like it overly sweet)
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional … skip this part if you’re watching your sodium)
- 1/4 cup flaxmeal
- 1 Tablespoon peanut butter
- 3/4 – 1 cup mini chocolate chips (or you could substitute dried fruit of your choice)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the oats and nuts. Set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, mix the pumpkin, vanilla, molasses, maple syrup, spices, salt, flaxmeal and peanut butter. Microwave on high for a minute, stir, and then microwave 30 seconds more until the mixture is good and hot. (Or heat the mixture in a saucepan. Either way will work.)
- Pour the hot pumpkin mixture over the nutty oat mixture in the bowl. Stir it all up until it’s well mixed.
- Spread all this wonderful stuff out into a thin layer on a large jellyroll pan (or other big flat baking pan with an edge to it).
- Set it in the oven and bake for about an hour and 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. It should be browned to a lovely brown color and smelling fantastic. You can taste a little sample to see if it’s crunchy enough. If it’s not, bake it a little longer.
- Here is the hard part:Let the granola cool COMPLETELY before stirring in the chocolate chips. Store in an airtight container. It will keep for about a month or so.