One of my all time favorite snacks is vanilla greek yogurt with blueberries and pistachios. It tugs at that salty-sweet craving I love (I guess this is why, when given a package of trail mix, I have an affinity for an M&M, raisin, and cashew sandwich). I am also frequently under-enthused with the store bought granola I so often purchase (for a myriad of reasons, one being that it often doesn’t have the taste I am looking for and the other being that I often can’t pronounce most of the ingredients.). So, I hit the internet in search of a generic, natural, granola recipe and fell across this one here. Trying to capture my love affair of my mid-afternoon snack in granola form, I decided to use dried blueberries and pistachios for my healthy, homemade granola.

Ingredients:

2 cups of rolled oats (I prefer the Trader Joe’s version since it is also gluten free)

1/2 cup of pistachios (roasted, unsalted)

1/2 cup of dried and unsweetened blueberries

1 1/2 tablespoons of coconut oil

2 tablespoons of grade B maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 pinch of sea salt

Pre-heat oven to 300. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and then evenly distribute on a foil (be sure to spray the foil) lined baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly toasted (be sure to begin keeping an eye on it around the 10 minute mark… you really don’t want to burn it!). Let it cool and then enjoy! A small FYI, in 1/4 of a cup there are 125 calories.  I like to combine mine with vanilla yogurt, strawberries, and raspberries… and let’s be honest, who doesn’t mix their parfait together?!