Pumpkin Granola

I made this over the Holidays - it makes the house smell SO good! It's really simple to make and is really good. You can use it as cereal, put on top of yogurt, snack on, etc. It would make a great gift if you wanted to baggie it up for the Holidays.

Pumpkin Granola
Yields: 4 Cups Granola
Prep Time: 20 Min
Cook Time: 40 Min

3 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
1 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Ground Allspice
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
1/2 Cup Pure (unsweetened) Pumpkin Puree
1/4 Cup Applesauce
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Dried Cranberries
1/2 Cup Almond Slices

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 325*F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, or use a nonstick baking sheet.

2. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl (oats through salt). Mix the wet ingredients (syrup through vanilla) in a smaller bowl. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Then stir in the cranberries and sliced almonds.

3. Spread the mixture out onto your baking sheet. Bake until golden - stirring halfway through baking - 20 minutes, then stir, then bake another 20 minutes. If it's not quite golden and crisp, bake 5 to 10 minutes more. It will get crisper as it cools. Let it cool and then store it in a covered container to nibble on for a couple of weeks.

Healthified Pumpkin Bread

I made two batches of this bread for Thanksgiving and everyone LOVED it. My cousin's 4 year old called it "brown bread" and he ate like 10 pieces lol. I sent a whole loaf home with him and he said while clapping "I'm so excited!" Kids are so awesome!

I took all the ingredients and used organic ingredients. Safeway had canned organic pumpkin that was really good. I actually stocked up!

Healthified Pumpkin Bread

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Start to Finish: 2 Hours 40 Minutes

Makes: 2 Loaves

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Cups Sugar
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon Ground Allspice
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
1 Can (15 oz) Pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 Cup Fat-Free Milk
3/4 Cup Fat-Free Egg Product (I actually just used 4 eggs)
1/2 Cup Canola Oil (I used Olive Oil)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350*F. Spray bottoms only of two 9x5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves until well blended.

2. In medium bowl, mix pumpkin, milk, egg product (or eggs) and oil until well blended. Stir into flour mixture until well blended. Spoon batter evenly into pans.

3. Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour.