Pumpkin Pie Granola

I found some granola tips on the internet a while back. I am not really fond of granola (gasp!), but my kids and James love the stuff.
If I were going to eat granola it
a) MUST be chunky,
b) needs a unique flavor,
c) may not have tiny seeds in it,
d) must be chunky.

I prefer granola that looks like you made a batch of too crumbly oatmeal cookies. One of the recipes I was studying suggested using fruit puree as part of the liquids. It was reputed to make the granola chunkier, provide part of the sweetness, and adds fruity flavor. So she suggested fruits you would associate with granola, specifically apple, pear or peaches. Pumpkin was not on the list. But I liked the idea, and only had pumpkin, so use what you have, right? Throw in cinnamon and ginger, and you have pumpkin pie!!! OK, so some of you hate pumpkin pie. It's not that pumpkiny. You might not even notice if someone didn't tell you.

I should probably halve the quantities for the batch I did, shouldn't I? I got almost 2 full Sam's Club Parmesan cheese containers full. I hope I can remember this. Here goes:

4 c quick oats
4 c rolled oats
2 c rice crispies
2 T cinnamon
1 T ginger
1/4 c butter, coconut oil, etc.
1 c sugar
1/4-1/2 c honey
1/2 15 oz can pumpkin
1 T vanilla
1 t salt
coconut
nuts
dried fruit

In a big bowl combine oats, rice cereal, and spices. Melt butter and combine with sugar, honey, pumpkin, vanilla, and salt. Stir into dry ingredients. It's going to be easiest to do it the way Mom taught us, and just use your hands. I let a kid or two mix the dry stuff but when it gets to adding the wet, that's sticky,tempting, and I want to be assured of having some left in the bowl to actually bake. So that's a "mom job", no two ways about it. Now to get chunky granola either gently squeeze handfuls and load them onto the pans, or (and I'm definitely trying this one next time) press it into your pans. Bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. Stir, or to best maintain chunkiness, use a spatula to gently flip/rearrange the granola. As you do so this is the time to add in any nuts and/or coconut you want. Bake for another 15-30 minutes. Check for doneness. This is sort of a touchy point because you don't want to burn it, but it won't totally crisp up until it is completely cool. When cooled add in any dried fruits you want (I didn't use any this time, it has pumpkin in it!), store in a sealed container/bag.