High Protein Pumpkin Granola

As I was browsing Pinterest for a delicious fall breakfast recipe I was being drawn to granola. I LOVE granola, but I never end up making any because it is {usually} so high in calories and so low in protein. So when I saw one of my pins for high protein pumpkin granola, I was intrigued.

I expected the recipe to call for protein powder, like recipes for most things that aren’t usually high in protein do. So when I opened the pin and discovered the magic high protein ingredient I was shocked . . . and immediately sold!

This granola is to. die. for. I still have at least half of it left and I’m already dreading it being gone. The good news is that it’s pretty easy to make. And I already have most of the ingredients for a repeat batch. There will definitely be a repeat batch. And probably another one after that. It’s that good.

Are you ready to learn the secret ingredient??

Red lentils.

How crazy is that?! Cooked red lentils, mixed in with the rest of the yummy, delicious, granolaey goodness and you would never ever guess that they’re there. And on top of the protein that they add, you also get more fiber. Lentils for the win.

This ingenious recipe is from I Love Vegan and you can find it here.

I Love Vegan named it “Sweet Pumpkin Seed Protein Granola”. I didn’t keep the sweet in the name of mine because, in my opinion, it just isn’t sweet. But I absolutely love it that way. It has just enough of a hint of sweetness to the be the best thing you have ever tasted but it’s definitely not as sweet as just about any store bought granola I’ve ever tried.

The granola is super easy to mix together. Plus the recipe is completely customizable and you can add or leave out anything you want. Just do not leave out the lentils – you will not be sorry they’re in there!

The more time-consuming part comes with the multiple trips into the oven and cooling. Especially when you have a tiny little oven like I do. Because mine is so small I had to put half on a small baking sheet and half in a cake pan. I easily could have used a third pan but that would have added even more cook time.

So, for everyone with a normal size oven, I would recommend using 2 normally sized baking sheets and I bet you will have even more delicious clusters than I did.

True confession though: I probably ate two whole servings of this granola straight from the pan before it was even done. I could not stop picking at it. Even typing this now I really want to go eat some even though I already had a bowl for breakfast.

Here’s the nutrition breakdown (with lentils increased to 3/4 cup dry):

16 servings: 283 calories, 13 gm protein, 38 gm carbs, 12 gm fat, 8 gm fiber

Did you see that protein?? Have you ever heard of granola having so much without adding protein powder? I didn’t think so. Not to mention how amazing all of the rest of the ingredients are. I Love Vegan did an amazing job with this recipe and I can’t wait to make it again!

