The Best Granola Clusters (Vegan + Gluten-Free)

The best granola clusters you will ever make. These are made with only nourishing ingredients but packed with flavor and natural sweetness. These clusters have a gooey and chewy texture with the perfect amount of crunch so, when you’re expecting dessert for breakfast, you won’t be disappointed. This recipe is also friendly for many allergens as it’s vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and refined sugar-free.

Enjoy these granola clusters with dairy-free milk, coconut yogurt, on top of smoothie bowls, or by itself. For smoothie options, try my Mixed Berry Smoothie, as well as my Vegan Blueberry Pie Smoothie

Granola makes a great snack and if you’d like another healthy snack option, check out my Chocolate Cranberry Trail Mix.

Don’t Have a Food Processor?

You can use a blender for this recipe if you don’t have a food processor, but you will want to make sure your dates are extra soft before adding them. To do this, add hot water to your dates for the soaking period and give them a little more time to soak if needed.

Why Medjool Dates?

Medjool dates are the star player in this recipe. Using soaked dates along with maple syrup, tahini and coconut oil make a really sticky base that creates the prefect clustery granola. With that said, I don’t recommend replacing or omitting the dates in this recipe. For other ingredient substitution options, see recipe adaptations below.

Recipe Adaptations:

1. You can substitute any nut/seed butter for tahini (sesame seed butter). Instead, try almond butter, sunflower butter, pecan butter, cashew butter, etc. If you want to use peanut butter, then I would take out the cranberries in this recipe.
2. You can replace maple syrup with any liquid sweetener such as honey, agave or date syrup.
3. You can use avocado oil in place of coconut oil.
4. Walnuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds can be used interchangeably with any nut or seed. Instead, try almonds, pecans, cashews, pistachios, etc.
5. Cranberries can be replaced with any dried fruit or left out entirely. Some options are raisins, dried blueberries, dried cherries, dried apricots, etc.

The Best Granola Clusters (Vegan + Gluten-Free)

Author: Adrianne

Yield: One large batch (serves about 12)

Ingredients:

Wet Ingredients:

• 8 large medjool dates (pitted)*
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup tahini (sesame seed butter)**

Dry Ingredients:

• 3 cups rolled oats (gluten-free if needed)
• 3/4 cup walnuts (roughly chopped)
• 3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Pitt 8 medjool dates and cover with water in a glass or small bowl leave these to soak for at least 5 minutes. Melt coconut oil and allow to cool while mixing dry ingredients.
3. To a large mixing bowl, add all dry ingredients and mix to combine.
4. Drain the water off medjool dates and add dates to your food processor along with melted and cooled coconut oil, maple syrup and tahini. Mix until you have a thick, gooey consistency.
5. Add date mixture to your dry ingredients and mix until the well incorporated.
6. Add a sheet of unbleached parchment paper to a baking sheet and transfer granola onto baking sheet. Using your hands or the back of a spoon spread out mixture and press into an even layer.
7. Place baking tray in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the edges start crisping up. DO NOT STIR if you want a lot of clusters. When finished baking, remove from oven and allow to cool completely before stirring. When granola is completely cool, break into pieces and transfer to an airtight container for storage.

* 8 medjool dates is roughly 1/2 cup packed.

** You can substitute any nut/seed butter for tahini. Instead, try almond, cashew, pecan, sunflower, etc.