If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram you know that I’ve been planning my trip of a lifetime to Europe for the past few months. The time has finally arrived where I’m departing and saying bon voyage for a few weeks while I enjoy the flavors of the Mediterranean. I’ve lined up a few of my favorite food bloggers and friends in-real-life to share delicious recipes with my readers!

My first guest today, is a good food blogging friend of mine, Sam from Sweet Remedy! We both share a love for granola. When Sam told me what she was going to share with my readers I knew instantly that everyone was going to go smitten over this! This is one of the first recipes I plan to make upon arriving home from vacation!

Hi Katie’s Cucina readers! It is my absolute pleasure to be posting here today in Katie’s absence. My name is Sam and I blog over at Sweet Remedy. Katie and I met at Food Blog Forum in Orlando last March and since then we’ve slowly become great friends and I hope to see her again soon! I joined her for a Google + Hangout with Christine of Cook the Story and we talked all about our mutual love for ice cream, I’m sure we could have gone on for days.

I was very resistant to summer’s end but now that I’ve been baking and cooking with the seasonal foods of autumn, I can say that I’m ready to embrace the cooler weather, sweaters, hats and cute boots. Let’s just keep the snow away for a good while, like last year. I live in the North East, the beautiful Hudson Valley of NYS and our winter last year was almost non-existent. I loved every second of it! Being a New York native and hating snow is a strange combination. I think snow is pretty, but I hate being cold and I will confess that I am one of those people that gets crazy when the roads get slushy. Everyone forgets how to operate a vehicle properly so I just stay off the roads. This can be a big pain when you have plans, or something important to get done. I do really love to witness the seasons changing and the Hudson Valley is a great place to do that. Plus, we have an abundance of amazing farms and local products that I don’t want to ever give up. Our proximity to New York City is also a big plus as day trips are always a possibility.

Apple trees and pumpkin patches are abundant right now. The leaves are changing and everyone is baking the usual apple crisp, pumpkin muffins and fall-flavored pies. I wanted to do something that would be healthy and have a huge burst of pumpkin flavor so I came up with this pumpkin granola recipe to share with you all.

All the normal ingredients for granola are present in this recipe but with a sweet addition of pumpkin purée, pumpkin pie spice and pepitas aka pumpkin seeds! I was really excited to bring this recipe idea into reality and the final product was absolutely amazing. It was just the right amount of that pumpkin taste we all crave in autumn. Remember, if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice in your pantry, don’t worry. It is easy to make yourself.

A few weeks ago, I shared Apple Pie Granola on my blog and I thought I was a genius. I continued and made this Pumpkin Pie Granola. If I were to choose a favorite out of these two granola creations I would have to say that the pumpkin granola came out much better and was a crowd pleaser. I myself only had a few bites of it as I gave the majority of it out as gifts. Don’t you wish we were friends?

Original Recipe from Sweet Remedy