I love granola–a bit over plain yogurt, drizzled with honey, or even by the handful. My husband on the other hand eats it like cereal, by the bowlful. I’ve encouraged granola like cereals, but apparently not the same. Sorry, but granola isn’t exactly cheap and the cup rather than quarter cup makes us run through it pretty quickly. Not to mention eating that much adds a lot of calories, but that’s besides the point. So I decided buying these 2-3 cup bags for $5 was not working for our budget.

Do you realize how EASY granola is to make? I mean I figured it would be pretty simple, but really, SO EASY. I made it the other night, kind of like a side project while I was making dinner. It didn’t take much effort or attention, and the results were yummy and CHEAP. Since it was my first time, I stuck with a recipe to the T. I haven’t done this in a long time, but when learning a recipe, I find it’s easier to make it perfect to see what it “should” taste like, then deviate and make it my own. I went Skinny Taste’s Pumpkin Granola. While tasty, I didn’t get an overwhelming pumpkin flavor out of it (fine by me), but I do wish it was a bit sweeter. I went with maple syrup as the sweetener, but I think next time a little extra maple, honey or a combination of the two would work.

Maple Pumpkin Granola (adapted from Skinny Taste)

• 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed well and pat dry with paper towel
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
• 1/4 cup pepitas (or other seed)
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup (or honey)
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp oil (coconut or canola)
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice (or more to taste)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread oats and quinoa out on a parchment lined baking pan. Toast in the oven 10 minutes, stirring once. In the meantime, in a medium bowl add ground flaxseeds, pepitas, pecans and cranberries.

Remove the oats and quinoa from oven and add to other dried ingredients.

Reduce oven to 300°F.In a second medium bowl, combine maple syrup, pumpkin puree, oil, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, salt and vanilla. Pour over oats and stir together with a spatula.

Spread back onto a baking sheet and bake an additional 20 minutes, or until golden.

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