Pumpkin Pie Granola

October 25, 2012

Last week, I started the series, Halloween: A Hate Story. I am happy to inform you this is the second installment in the series of stories about why I dislike Halloween. I like to entitle this little segment, the Mean Girls years.

You all have seen the movie Mean Girls, right? Lilo was in her glory days. She still had red hair and wasn’t all cracked out and made kind of decent movies.

There is a scene in the movie where Lindsay Lohan’s character gets invited to a Halloween party. She decides to go all out with her costume and dress up as a zombie bride, face paint and all. When she shows up at the party she sadly discovers all the other girls at the party are sexy angels, sexy cowgirls, and sexy devils (in other words, they aren’t really dressed up).

This exact scenario has happened to me on several occasions in high school. The most notable incident was freshman year. It was the first party of my high school career. The entire freshman class was invited. In my head, I had already devised the perfect costume. I couldn’t afford to go buy a costume, plus I probably waited too long to buy something from a store.

I went through our handy dandy costume box in the attic and dug up a skirt made of green felt leaves, green tights, a green long sleeve tee, green felt leaf necklace, and a giant pink puffy flower headdress! Yep, that was my killer costume idea.

There was no talking me out of this. I thought it was so cute. My friends told me they were dressing up as cowboys, cowgirls, maybe a Fred Durst or two. I still wanted to be a flower.

So my mom drives me and my friends to the party. I get out of the minivan and Velcro my pink flower headdress together under my chin. We walk coolly into the party, with all that freshman swagger.

Not two seconds into the party I see nothing but girls in skintight black clothing with devil horns. To my left, I see a sexy hippie. I turn around and see sexy angels. Aaaaaahhhh!!!! I rip my pink flower headdress off my head and thank God I decided against painting my face yellow for the center of the flower. I have to go around the rest of the party dealing with people asking me if I am the Jolly Green Giant, because all I am wearing now is a green outfit with a leaf skirt and necklace!!!! Costume fail! Epic costume fail.

Please tell me this has happened to some of you before?

While I wait for your responses, I am going to nervously crunch on this festive granola. The only good thing about Halloween is pumpkin!

Pumpkin Pie Granola

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Author Sarcastic Cooking

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Sea Salt
  • ¾ Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1/3 Cup Maple Syrup
  • 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
  • 1/3 Cup Pumpkin Puree
  • 2 Cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
  • ½ Cup Chopped Walnuts
  • ¼ Cup Sunflower Seeds
  • 1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, sea salt, maple syrup, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice.
  3. Add oats, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds to the bowl. Mix well.
  4. Spread the granola mixture out in one even layer on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes and then remove from oven and mix. Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until golden.
  5. Completely cool granola on the baking sheet before transferring to an air-tight container. Granola will last up to two weeks.

recipe adapted from Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook

FYI All pictures of said costume have been destroyed or lost on purpose.

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  • Beth Michelle
    October 28, 2012 at 10:36 am

    Aw how terrible! No wonder Halloween isnt your favorite! What ever happened to really dressing up for Halloween anyway? A sexy anything really is not a costume anyway.
    I make homemade granola all the time and this looks so delicious and perfect for this time of year. Cannot wait to try it!

  • Stephie @ Eat Your Heart Out
    October 26, 2012 at 10:56 am

    I just don’t understand how these high school girls get out of the house looking like that? Do their parents just not care? Do they change in the car? These are real life questions, people! (And yes, I’m 83 years old at heart)

  • Kristi @ My San Francisco Kitchen
    October 25, 2012 at 11:52 pm

    Sounds delicious! I would love to eat this for breakfast with some yogurt in the mornings.

  • Wendy @ AMFT
    October 25, 2012 at 8:59 pm

    Oh my goodness…I’d probably hate Halloween too if that happened to me! Love the pumpkin pie granola…sounds tasty!

  • Kristen @ The Balanced Bowl
    October 25, 2012 at 5:30 pm

    Oh Stefanie! This looks fantastic…and a great fall choice. Can’t wait to try this recipe. I love easy granola.

  • Ashley Bee (Quarter Life Crisis Cuisine)
    October 25, 2012 at 12:15 pm

    What a great idea!! Homemade granola is just so much better than store-bought, and anything pumpkin is just plain fantastic 🙂

    • Stefanie
      October 25, 2012 at 7:48 pm

      Agree!

  • kelsey
    October 25, 2012 at 9:26 am

    I need this. Totes making it this weekend!