Pumpkin Spice Granola

At times granola is a staple breakfast food at our house. Luckily we all love it. This recipe has all of the best fall spices that make your house smell good. I also like that it doesn't have any oil like many other granola recipes. Olivia asked me if I could make it for her everyday. Um, no. It does have to cook for about an hour, so that would cut down on my sleep time. I told her I would make it about once a month. The good thing is that it makes plenty of servings that last for days in a closed container.

Recipe from Jessica Stegelmeier

Ingredients:

5 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 cup coconut
1 cup nuts
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together oats, wheat germ, coconut, nuts and spices. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla. Pour over oat mixture and stir until well combined. Spread onto two greased cookie sheets. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. I like my granola really crunchy so I ended up cooking it for around an hour. Add dried cranberries after granola is cooked. Store in an airtight container.

* I didn't have any dried cranberries. If I did, they would be in there.