Dishing Up the Dirt

Blueberry Lemon Granola

On Monday mornings our alarm clock goes off at 4:45 a.m. so we can get cracking in the fields and harvest for our CSA deliveries in Portland. We have 50 shares in the Portland area and harvesting and washing all of the produce takes a really long time when it’s just the two of us. Not to mention the hour + commute. The first words out of my mouth at a quarter to 5 in the morning usually go something like this:

“I feel like I was hit by a dump truck yesterday and I don’t think my body can handle this anymore. I actually might die today.”

Taylor always responds with an appropriate answer:

“Babe, I made your coffee extra strong and your’re going to kick ass. Let’s do this.”

We then both roll out of bed and stumble into the fields- extra strong coffee in hand of course.

I am ashamed to admit that Mondays are the only day of the week where our eating schedule is totally out of whack. We usually end up eating peanut butter out of the jar in the field because we literally don’t have a second to spare.

And while I know there isn’t anything wrong with peanut butter out of the jar I am committed to fixing our Monday craziness. Nothing is worse than an over-caffeinated and underfed farmer. Trust me! 

What I love about this granola is that is can be prepared any evening of the week and stores really well in glass jars. I made this today and really regret not having had it yesterday for our Monday crazy eating schedule.  We’ve enjoyed it with homemade almond milk and even dry by the handful. It’s simple and delicious-plus it tastes great eaten with a spoon full of peanut butter too. I can’t help myself!

Don’t let the long baking time scare you away from this recipe. I am the first person to admit that time is precious and I don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen. However, this granola only requires a few minutes of hands on time and the slow and low temperature that it’s baked at really improves the texture, taste, and nutritional value.  The hands on time is less than ten minutes and I promise you will never make granola another way. (Or maybe you will which is fine too but this is my favorite method.) Grab a spoon, pour some extra strong coffee and get ready to kick ass! Enjoy

Blueberry Lemon Granola

Prep Time: 10 minutes    Cook Time: 4 hours    Serves: 8-10 servings

Dry ingredients:
  • 4 cups old fashioned rolled oats (GF if necessary)
  • 1/2 cup chopped raw almonds
  • 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
  • 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • zest from 1 large lemon
  • 1 1/2 cups dried blueberries
Wet Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup raw honey
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. In a large bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients (minus the blueberries)
  3. In a smaller bowl whisk together all of the wet ingredients (if needed melt the coconut oil in a saucepan)
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients (minus the blueberries). Taste test and adjust seasonings if necessary. I added more lemon zest!
  5. Place granola on two prepared baking sheets and bake for three hours. Remove granola from oven, toss and add dried blueberries. Return to the oven and bake for 1 more hour.
  6. Store granola in an airtight glass container for up to two weeks.

Notes

*Use this recipe as a guide *Adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary *Taste test as you go


Leave a Reply

18 thoughts on “Blueberry Lemon Granola

  1. Elissa says:

    Gosh I love your recipes, that one has been added to the list to try. Yummo! Thanks for sharing.

    1. Andrea says:

      Yay! I hope you make this soon! We love it!

  2. Such a supportive husband you have! Anyone that will make you extra strong coffee on a rough day is a keeper. I love the blueberry + lemon combo but never would have put it in granola! I’m intrigued. Gotta try it out!

    1. Andrea says:

      He’s the best! I don’t think I could be married to me! Especially if I am under- caffeinated!

  3. As someone who doesn’t drink coffee and also turns into a monster without food, I’m confident I would die! Or kill somebody.

    But I’m glad Taylor is able to encourage you and hopefully it all feels worth it at the end of the day. Or the beginning, when you get to wake up to granola like this! I can already smell the blueberries and the lemon in the oven…mmmm…..

    1. Andrea says:

      Our kitchen smelt amazing! You need to give this granola a whirl!

  4. This is going on my snacking menu with some peanut butter 🙂 Love the slow baking time- what a great idea to really get it to crisp up perfectly.

    1. Andrea says:

      The low and slow cooking time really is the way to go for perfect granola!

  5. Mmm, I love homemade granola so much! I want a big bowl!

  6. You definitely need to keep the farmers fed! Otherwise there is trouble brewing in the fields!
    This granola looks amazing, and I am ashamed to admit that I have fallen into a breakfast rut – maybe a batch of this is just what I need to get me out!

    1. Andrea says:

      I hope you give this a go to cure the breakfast rut! Let me know if you try it!

  7. Emma says:

    4.45?!! Yikes.
    You guys are such hard workers, you definitely need a better breakfast than PB and coffee!
    This granola looks a much better idea 🙂 I’ve never seen dried blueberries but now I really want to get my hands on some….Do they have added sugar?

  8. Deepti says:

    Hey, this looks like a great recipe. I have one question, you said 225 degrees. Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius? Our oven uses Celsius, so wanted to be sure.

    1. Andrea says:

      It’s fahrenheit! I’ll put that in the recipe! Enjoy!

  9. Bryan says:

    I’ve made this recipe multiple times now, and it’s become one of my wife’s favorite things to have for breakfast.

    We’ve made a couple minor adjustments for our taste. After cooking it for 4 hours in our oven the first time it tasted a bit burnt so I’ve lowered the time a little. The big change we made was substituting an orange for the lemon. A large orange gives plenty of zest and juices out to almost a half cup.

    Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. We love it.

  10. Kevin says:

    My prep time was over 45 minutes, including gathering ingredients, chopping, measuring, melting, straining, washing, picking more lemons, thoroughly mixing, and carefully single layering. Also using Bob’s Red Mill brand for most of the dry ingredients, I spent close to $50 on this recipe. At $5/serving before yogurt, PB, etc. it gets a “Hmmm” on the thrifty scale.
    That said, the aroma from the chop and toss alone earned an “Amazing!” from my wife as she walked in the door. Instead of almonds and sunflower seeds, I used pecans and brown sesame seeds, which were in the pantry. Juice was 1/2 lemon and 1/2 tart orange, with extra zest from the orange, again based on what was on hand. Just started the cook, will share the results!

    1. Andrea says:

      If your prep time for this granola was over 45 minutes and you spent $50 then I’m assuming you didn’t follow the method… I apologize this was so time consuming and expenisve but that not the case if you follow the instructions and quantity of ingredients….

      1. Kevin says:

        This granola is great. Having made it twice now, it’s definitely my go to. The per serving cost drops if you are able to use bulk ingredients and make multiple batches without having to re-shop. Substituting currants or dried cranberries for the blueberries saved $. My cost per serving ended up around $3.00. Prep time was 25 minutes using pre-chopped pecans, and running around like a “Chopped” episode. Used baking paper on the sheet pans. Result is an even, mildly crunchy toast with rich flavor.

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