Pumpkin Spiced Paleo Granola

Healthy eating at mealtime is pretty simple~ stick to meat & veggies and you're good. Snacks can be a little tougher. I usually go for things like raw veggies, Larabars, or trail mix, but it's fun to have something a little different. 

This recipe doubles as a healthy snack & a tasty dessert. It's even good for breakfast. It's perfectly sweet & tastes like a cookie crumble! 

Most granola is over-processed and full of sugar, but this is one you can feel good about indulging in. I use nuts and coconut instead of oats and grains to create the bulk of my granola. Then I replaced the sugar and unnatural binders with honey & coconut oil. No flavor is lost here, it actually tastes better. Any combination of nuts would work, these are just some of my favorites that I had on hand! I also really recommend the Pumpkin Pie Spice from Trader Joe's~ it's inexpensive for a large amount with no additives. 

I came up with this recipe as a snack for my boyfriend when he came over to visit. We munched on it over the weekend, then I packed up the rest into cellophane bags, tied with a ribbon, & shared them! This works great as a treat to give to friends & family as a little gift, just to let them know that you were thinking of them. Plus, it tastes amazing!

Please enjoy, let me know how you like it, & come back for more flavor combinations later (I plan on doing more experimenting)! Feel free to cut the recipe in half, but I recommend making the whole batch... It won't last long :)

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups almonds
• 1 ½ cups cashews
• 1 ½ cups pecans
• 2 cups almond meal
• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 Tbsp vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
2. Roughly chop the almonds, cashews, & pecans by hand or using the "pulse" function on a food processor. 
3. In a large bowl, combine the chopped nuts with almond meal, coconut, pumpkin pie spice, & sea salt.
4. Melt the honey, coconut oil, and vanilla, & stir into the dry mixture until combined.
5. Spread out flat onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (I needed two sheets).
6. Bake at 400ºF for about 10 minutes, or until it begins to brown on top. If you are using two sheets, rotate them so that the browned one is now on a lower rack. Continue baking for an additional 4-5 minutes or until both sheets have browned.
7. Allow to completely cool.
8. Use your hands to break up the mixture & crumble into chunky pieces.
9. Enjoy!

We used our fingers to snack on this, but it would be great as cereal with some grass-fed milk or coconut milk!