Name: Healthy Crunchy Blueberry Granola
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 2-3 cups
Ingredients: ¼ cup canola oil; ¼ cup brown rice syrup; ½ tsp van extract; 1 ½ cups old fashioned rolled oats; 1 ½ cups nuts/seeds (I used walnuts, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds); ¼ tsp salt; ½ cup blueberries, fresh or frozen; ½ cup coconut, shredded

If you’re not crunching and munching on some healthy blueberry granola for your easy, go-to snack this summer you are missing out! It’s full of crispy clusters made up of oats, nuts, and seeds and takes no time to throw into a baggie as your run out the door!

This high protein, crunchy, clustery blueberry granola is you next go-to snack! It's so easy to make, full of wholesome ingredients, and is easy to pack up and grab on the go! Take it to the pool or on a car trip, everyone's going to love this summer snack staple! #HealthyHacks

I’m pretty partial to soft, fudgy, and chewy treats (like this no bake peanut butter pie, these whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, and these healthy turtle brownies) but I can’t even begin to tell you have much I’m loving the crispy, crunchy, clustery-ness of this healthy blueberry granola! Forget the store bought kind of granola where you’re left with dust at the bottom of the bag! When you make your own granola you get to control how clustery it gets. If that’s not the equivalent to a human superpower, I don’t know what is.

WHY YOU NEED TO MAKE THIS GRANOLA ASAP

In no particular order:

It’s full of nutritious, wholesome ingredients and much lower in sugar than store bought granola.
It’s made in one bowl and in just a few minutes.
It’s totally customizable – use your favorite nuts and seeds or switch it up for different flavors profiles! It’s wayyyyy cheaper than store bought granola.
Cluster control! Because we’re not fooling ourselves around here – the clusters are the best part, right!?!

HOW DO YOU MAKE CLUSTERY GRANOLA

Whether you want deliciously uniform pieces of granola or those large chunks, the steps are almost exactly the same. The cluster-factor comes in to play after the baking part is done. If you want smaller pieces, stir the granola right when you pull the tray out of the oven and then allow it to cool down. If those clusters is what you’re after, don’t touch the granola until it’s completely cool. Then you can break it up a bit if the clusters are a little too large for your liking. I mean, I’m all about those nice big chunks, just not 1 whole granola chunk 😉

HOW LONG WILL THE GRANOLA LAST

Given that you don’t eat it all as soon as it comes out of the oven, it should last at least a week in an airtight container. It might last even a little longer in the fridge. The important part to note is that air and moisture will make the granola less crispy and more soft, so the goal to freshness is to avoid those.

WHAT SUBSTITUTIONS CAN BE MADE

Many!! You can use any type of oil you’d like in place of the canola oil, though I’d recommend one either flavorless or one you really enjoy the flavor of (meaning, if you’re not wanting an olive oil flavored granola, I’d probably steer clear of that). Also, if you’re wanting to use coconut oil, make sure it’s in liquid form and that none of your other ingredients are cold or that will cause the coconut oil to harden and make it difficult to mix everything properly.

While I think brown rice syrup is the best choice here (especially if you want those big clusters since brown rice syrup is very sticky and helps hold all the ingredients together), you can swap it out for other liquid sweeteners like honey, golden syrup, or maple syrup. Just be aware the texture might be different.

For the nuts and seeds I used walnuts, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds, but as long as your mixture equals 1 ½ cups you can use any nuts and seeds you’d like!

Also, you can definitely swap out the blueberries for any other fruit you’d like and totally omit the coconut if you’re not a fan.

If the world is your oyster, so is this granola! Just….less slimey and way more tasty 😉

Kaylie | Healthy Hacks

Yields 2-3 cups

Healthy Crunchy Blueberry Granola

Gluten Free; Vegan; Grain Free; High Protein; Refined Sugar Free; Egg Free; Dairy Free; Soy Free; Easy

15 minPrep Time

30 minCook Time

45 minTotal Time

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup brown rice syrup
½ tsp van extract
1 ½ cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 ½ cups nuts/seeds (I used walnuts, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds)
¼ tsp salt
½ cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
½ cup coconut, shredded

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease a cookie sheet tray or line it with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir together the oil, brown rice syrup, and vanilla extract.
Add the oats, nuts/seeds, salt, blueberries, and coconut, and stir until well combined. NOTE: if you’re using frozen blueberries make sure you defrost them first and discard the liquid that comes off – don’t add it to the granola mixture.
Spread the granola onto the cookie sheet tray in a thin, even layer and press the mixture together lightly.
Bake for 20 min. then stir/flip the granola. It’s also good to move the granola from the outer edges to the center of the tray for even baking.
Bake for an additional 10 min. or until the oats are golden brown. The center should be a little soft and squishy, but the edges should be crispy if touched.
If you want large chunks of granola, don’t stir or flip the granola at this point. If you want smaller, more broken up pieces, stir the granola when removed from the oven.
Allow the granola to cool completely on the pan.
Transfer the granola to an airtight container. It will last 1 – 2 weeks at room temp. and can also be stored in the fridge.
Crunch away and enjoy!