Keeping the granola jar full: Carrot Granola and Pumpkin Chickpea Granola

After a brief and, in my mind, uncalled for granola hiatus, a sale on gluten free oats at Whole Foods spurred be back into ensuring that there is always some granola in our pantry.  I've been playing around with flavors, grains, and even adding in sweet vegetables into the mix.  If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I like to do weird things with vegetables.  Such as put kale into cookies or garlic scapes in hummus.  After being delighted with the taste and texture of grated carrots in other meals and concoctions, I decided to give it a whirl in my granola. 

The results were splendid.  Carrots add a sweetness, complexity of texture, and slight crunch to the granola.  They cluster up in these lovely little carrot bunches and seems to fit right in, pairing quite well with a bit of crystallized ginger.  Aesthetically, the orange combined with the sage green of the pepita seeds and the maroon of dried cranberries just sings autumn.  I find that just a small amount of granola keeps me satisfied and gives me the energy to get going during the day.  Since I make it at home, it doesn't have any funky oils in it, and I love customizing it depending on what I have on hand.

 

Carrot Surprise Granola

• 1 cup gluten free oats
• 1 cup raw buckwheat
• 1/2 cup nuts, chopped (I used almonds and walnuts)
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds seeds and dried fruit 
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped finely
• 3 large carrots, grated
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons ginger

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients.  Add in the applesauce, honey, and oil, and mix well.  Turn onto a baking sheet, spreading all the ingredients out evenly.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, giving things a stir every 15 minutes or so.    

Yields about 5 cups of granola.

I enjoyed adding carrots to my granola so much that I started experimenting a bit more.  The autumn season inspired me again -- in this next recipe I used canned pumpkin puree in lieu of apple sauce.  While I don't typically buy things canned, the ease of pumpkin puree already made for me beats doing it myself.  The instant gratification is too tempting! 

You might be noticing beautiful little golden orbs hanging out in this granola....can you guess what they might be?
If you guessed chickpeas, you're right!  I figured since roasted chickpeas were so fantastic, why  not add them into granola?  A bit of added protein and texture can't be too bad.  Again, everything seems to fit together really well...neither the carrots nor the garbanzo beans seem out of place in this granola.  I added a bit more punch to the pumpkin flavor by using garam masala and ginger as my spices in this recipe.  I thought about pumpkin spice, but wanted something more intense and both spice combinations share a lot of the same ingredients.

You can feel good about eating this granola, too.  In addition to the vitamin A from the carrots and pumpkin puree, it also has protein from the chickpeas, oatmeal, buckwheat, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds, healthy omega fats, and the cholesterol reducing properties of oats.  Fiber, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, and folate are also bountiful in this mix, as well as a bit of iron.  So eat up!

Pumpkin Chickpea Granola

• 1 cup gluten free oats
• 2 cups raw buckwheat
• 3 carrots, grated
• 1 cup garbanzo beans
• 1 cup pepita seeds and walnuts, mixed to your liking
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons garam masala
• 2 tablespoons ginger

Pretty much the same as the Carrot Granola:  Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients.  Add in the applesauce, honey, and oil, and mix well.  Turn onto a baking sheet, spreading all the ingredients out evenly.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, giving things a stir every 15 minutes or so.    

Yields about 6 cups of granola

What sort of funky things would you put in granola?  I was thinking grated beets would be a full Valentine's Day granola, but it might stain your finger tips if you like to eat right out of the jar like I do...

Enjoy the weekend!