Recipe ReDux #1: Pumpkin Spice Granola

Happy Thursday Lovelies! I am so excited for today’s post and have been dieing to share it with you for weeks! But first I want to tell you about dinner last night! I had my first Purple Sweet Potato! I was excited all day and could not wait for dinner, haha (foodie-fanatic alert!), right Nicole? I decided to make mini fries by just cutting it up into chunks, dousing it with cinnamon and popping them in the oven at 425°F for 35 minutes. They came out perfectly! Normally when I make sweet potato fries they don’t get as crunchy and perfect, but the purple potato was everything a roasted potato should be! I need to get more ASAP! I also had Barramundi with curry powder, cumin, parsley, and alfalfa sprouts. I bought these for the first time as well last weekend and I can’t get enough. They are so good! Purple Sweet Potatoes and Alfalfa Sprouts makes one happy Rebecca 😉

Anyway, on to the purpose of this post! I was recently accepted in to the Recipe ReDux program. It is a food blogger membership-only program and each month the members are given a secret theme that only those in the redux know. Then we create a healthy recipe that correlates with that theme and post it on the 21st of each month. It is a way to share fun healthy recipes with the blogging community and promote delicious healthy eating!

So this month’s theme was:

Adding Merriment to Mixes – From hostess gifts to holiday gifts, it’s the season for DIY offerings from your kitchen. And homemade mixes couldn’t be easier! Think about healthy bread, hot cocoa, cookie bars, dressings or even spice mixes. Share the recipe for how you package up a little shelf-stable love from your kitchen!

I was stumped at first with what I wanted to make. I thought maybe some spice mixes, but then I thought that might be a bit boring. So I kept the gearing turning and finally it hit me. Homemade Granola! I have been wanting to try making some myself for a while now and this was the perfect opportunity to get me in the kitchen and start experimenting. I did tons of research on recipes for granola and finally came up with my perfect variation with some of my favorite flavors. This granola is perfect for fall and winter with the delicious flavors and aromas of pumpkin, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, coconut, and almonds! I packaged it up in a clear container and made labels to go on the outside with the name, ingredients, and directions on how to make the granola. You can of course give you gift already baked or you can give it raw and let your recipient make it themselves! I made labels for you to print out yourself if you want to stick them on your gift jars. All you have to do is copy the images into a word document and resize them to fit your jar! Then I would just cut them out and stick them on to the jar. Super simple. You can dress up the jar more with festive ribbon or whatever your heart desires!

So now for the recipe and a boat load of pictures 🙂

Pumpkin Spice Granola

Ingredients: (makes about 2 1/2 cups)

+ 1 1/2 Cups Gluten-Free Rolled Oats

+ 1 Cup Crispy Brown Rice Cereal

+ 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree

+ 1/2 Cup Slivered Almonds

+ 1/4 Cups Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

+ 2 Tsp Cinnamon

+ 1 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

+ 2 Packets of Stevia (which equals 4 tsp of sugar)

+ 1 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Here you can stop and just layer up all the ingredients! I love looking at all the sections, haha! Or you can now take the next step and bake it up too!

Directions:

+ Preheat the oven to 325°F

+ Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir.

+ In a separate bowl combine all wet, stir, and then pour it into the dry mix.

+ Stir everything to thoroughly combine, then spread in a thin layer on a foiled greased baking sheet.

+ Place the pan in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring every 10. (If you want it extra crunchy leave it in a bit longer, but be careful not to burn it!)

+ Remove, let cool, and store in an airtight container!

All cooked up and gifted 🙂

O so good! I had mine plain the first time I tried it, then I had it with some almond milk for breakfast. I love how the pumpkin clustered up some of ingredients 🙂

Okay, one more picture 🙂

I am totally going to gift this for Christmas this year! I love doing DIYs as gifts and when it is a DIY that incorporates food…well you can’t get any better than that!

So tell me:

Ever make you own granola?

What is the best homemade gift you have ever gotten, or the best gift you ever gave?

Ever have a Purple Sweet Potato or Alfalfa Sprouts?