Two years ago, I was living in Mexico, which, let me tell you, is a pumpkinless land. It was a long, difficult fall for me because I was bombarded with photos everywhere of pumpkin things, and I had to sub sweet potato where I could. It worked, but it wasn’t the same. #firstworldproblems
Last year, I took full advantage of being back in the U.S. of A. and ate lots of pumpkin. I shared some of my pumpkin creations with you, from pumpkin pancakes to pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and even a warm maple pumpkin latte to dip those cookies into.
This year, I’m back again and ready to blow you away with this pumpkin fig granola and hopefully more pumpkin things to come.
For this month’s Recipe Redux theme, we are celebrating National Nut Day, which is today (did you know?!).
In my opinion, pumpkin granola is best with nuts and dried fruit added. Usually, I would add pecans to anything pumpkin flavored but this time I did a mixture of pistachios and cashews. I did this mostly because it’s what I had in my pantry, but I love the way it turned out.
I also chopped up whole dried Turkish figs and added them to the granola once it was cooked and cooled.
The truth is that this recipe is just a guideline like many of the recipes I share here. This granola is easily adaptable and I hope you get creative with it. As long as you have the measurements right for dry and wet ingredients then you can choose the type of nuts and dried fruit you like, sub in your favorite liquid sweetener, or add as much spice as you’d like!
My favorite part of any granola is the clusters, so I cooked this low and slow in the oven and only stirred/flipped the granola after 40 minutes so I could keep as many clusters as possible.
Hopefully you will enjoy this recipe as much as I do- go nuts!
- 3 cups rolled oats, gluten free optional
- 1 cup whole raw nuts (I used cashews and pistachios)
- 1/2 cup seeds/coconut (I used hemp seeds and unsweetened dried coconut)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin butter (or sub maple syrup)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped dried Turkish figs
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl and stir to combine.
- Separately, add all wet ingredients to a medium bowl and whisk to combine completely.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until all of the dry ingredients are coated with the wet mixture.
- Spread the entire mixture evenly across a large lined or oiled baking sheet (I like to use Silpat mats) and bake for 40 minutes.
- Remove after 40 minutes and gently toss the granola so that brown underside is now on the top. Bake for another ten minutes, or until golden brown and crispy when cooled.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely before adding dried figs and mixing again. Store granola in an airtight container for up to two weeks, or until you eat it all!
Inspiration for this recipe came from purely elizabeth Ancient Grain Pumpkin Fig Granola which is to die for.
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Beautiful, Katie!! Wish I had some now……YUM!
Thanks Robin!
oooo I have almost everything I need to make this. Sounds perfect!
Yes! I hope you give it a try, Amanda!
Why have I not thought of the fig + pumpkin combo yet?! LOVE!
It’s a match made in heaven. Thanks, Selena!
Figs, clusters, just all around perfect granola!
Thanks so much Rebecca!
Yum, looks delicious and would taste great on coconut yogurt. Breakfast – done!
Ooh coconut yogurt- such a great idea!
I love how many clusters this has- I must try to make some soon!
The clusters are the best part! Enjoy, Rebecca!
Drool! Pumpkin and Fig may be my favorite combo.
mmmm this granola sounds incredible!!! I LOVE pumpkin and dried figs!
No pumpkin? No pumpkin?! I don’t think I could live like that… so glad to hear you are back and can indulge in ALL the pumpkin foods – and this granola sounds seriously delicious! What a great combo of flavors! I’m pretty sure I’d be stuffing it into my mouth by the handful while trying desperately to build a respectable yogurt parfait. Ah well, so be it. Can’t wait to try this – thanks for sharing!
Haha I just laughed out loud because this is basically exactly what happened. Thank goodness I am back in the land of pumpkin…now I don’t want it to end! Thanks for visiting and I’m excited to follow your blog now too!