Pumpkin Spice Granola

This recipe and variations on it, have been floating around everywhere the past couple of months. I think it originated on Baking Bites, so that is where I went to get the recipe when I wanted to make this granola.

The interesting thing about this granola is that it contains pumpkin puree and there is no oil or butter at all. The pumpkin puree is combined with applesauce, maple syrup and other things, and that is what binds it all together.

I don't keep puffed rice cereal on hand and I had seen some granola recipes that used uncooked quinoa/amaranth in granola, so I subbed some uncooked quinoa and uncooked amaranth in my granola mix. I liked the extra crunch that they added.
I threw in some roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and chocolate chips as my add-ins. I don't really care for dried fruit in my granola and I knew the addition of chocolate chips would make this more appealing to my kids, who happened to love this granola.

This was really good and a fresh take on granola. We loved it.

* note-I don't eat yogurt very often, but this granola was really good with Siggi's Orange & Ginger yogurt.

Recipe for Pumpkin Spice Granola from Baking Bites
* I used 1/2 cup uncooked amaranth and 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa in place of the puffed rice cereal
* I added 1/4 cup ground flaxmeal to the dry ingredients
* I added 1/2 cup roasted pepitas to the granola after the first 30 minutes of baking
* I stirred in 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips after the granola was cool

Amaranth Black Bean Patties

Have you tried Amaranth? It's not a grain, it's a seed. Kind of like quinoa, but smaller. Here is a little bit more information about it, as well as some pictures.

Anyway, a couple of months ago I tried it at a class where we learned about different grains and seeds to serve. My girls loved it, so I bought some in bulk at EarthFare the next time we went.

I looked online to find out how to cook it and most of the sources I found said to boil it for 15-20
minutes using 2.5 cups water for every 1 cup of amaranth.
That is the method I used and it was a little bit too moist for these black bean patties, but it worked out. The mixture turned out more like batter, so I ended up scooping it onto my griddle and cooking them that way.
It worked. And they were really good.

I served them alongside some romaine and fresh tomatoes.
The leftovers were good cold, right out of the fridge.

We have also enjoyed amaranth as a hot cereal option in the morning. I love it when a food can be breakfast, lunch or dinner!



My husband asked "is there any more of that?"

Recipe for Amaranth Black Bean Patties
* I used 1 egg instead of egg whites
*I used sunflower seeds instead of pepitas