These Homemade Granola Clusters include just 10 minutes of prep time, are entirely gluten-free and vegan, and are incredibly crunchy and delicious.
I made some granola! And oh boy, is it good! This one of those glorious recipes that will together for you on the first try AND looks beautiful!
I really love a snack—whether it’s mid-morning, mid-afternoon, or midnight. Having a variety of nutritious options readily available at home helps me to make healthier choices. These granola clusters are just that with a tasty combination of sticky maple syrup, succulent Mejool dates, sweet golden raisins, dried blueberries, and a combination of sunflower, flax, and chia seeds. Tying it all together are a blend of crunchy nuts and additional tasty morsels, delivering a punch of flavor.
Granola Clusters Ingredients
This may surprise the non-food bloggers out there, but along with the normal recipe testing for each post, I sometimes have to re-shoot a dish multiple times, as well! In the case of this granola, first time around the recipe didn’t quite work out AND the photo shoot failed. So I decided to start from scratch and man, am I glad I did! After my first failure, I decided to look around for some inspiration and ended up changing up the nuts to incorporate my personal fav, almonds, and subbed in the blueberries and golden raisins instead of craisins!
From there I tweaked a few other ingredients and ended up with what I can safely say is my ideal granola. It’s rich in flavor, thanks to the maple syrup, but not too sweet! And it has a fantastic crunchy texture that creates those granola clusters we all love (or, is that just me?)
What makes this granola unique is that it’s actually jam-packed with good-for-you ingredients! The use of old-fashioned rolled oats, dried blueberries, golden raisins, coconut oil (instead of canola), flax seed, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, maple syrup, and a combination of nuts pretty much makes this the most healthy granola I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.
Can’t you just imagine this between layers of a vanilla yogurt parfait?
So what I’m trying to say is that you need to get to making this, STAT! I recommend making a huge batch and just throwing it on everything (I actually brought a baggie into work with me today for a midday snack!).
Easy Homemade Granola Clusters
These Homemade Granola Clusters include just 10 minutes of prep time, are entirely gluten-free and vegan, and are incredibly crunchy and delicious.
Ingredients
- 6-8 Mejool dates, pitted and chopped
- 1/4 cup dried blueberries
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp un-refined coconut oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup raw peanuts
- 1/2 cup raw almonds
- 2 tbs chia seeds
- 2 tbs flax seeds
- 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Add the chopped dates, blueberries, golden raisins, maple syrup, vanilla extract and coconut oil to a medium-sized pot and heat over a medium-high heat.
- Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes or, until the mixture is easily crushed by the back of a fork. Set aside to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Add the remaining ingredients (raw oats, peanuts, almonds, chia seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds and sea salt) to a large bowl and mix together.
- Pour the slightly cooled syrup mixture into the dry ingredients and use a spatula to mix until well combined.
- To a lightly oiled baking dish, add the mixture and use a spatula to press into the pan.
- Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and use a fork to separate into large clumps. Place the mixture back into the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes to get nice and golden brown with crispy edges.
- Remove from oven again and set aside and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
Notes
Use any combination of 1 cups nuts that you prefer, pecans, peanuts, almonds, cashews etc.
Once fully cooled, enjoy as is, serve on top of your favorite yogurt or place in a Ziploc bag or an sealed airtight container to store.
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