Blueberry Pie Cookies With Granola

Friends, I have a lot of half-baked ideas. (Pun totally intended.) Some never leave my brain, others flop spectacularly. But sometimes, the idea turns out better than I even imagined. That was the case with these blueberry pie cookies. I wanted chewy cookies bursting with the flavor of blueberry pie and a bit of sweet granola crunch, and that's exactly what these are. 👏

Why you'll love this recipe

• I swapped oatmeal for granola in these cookies, and the result is glorious. Granola is made from oats, after all, and using it in these cookies gives them a slightly crunchy texture that's the perfect complement to the saucy blueberry pie filling.
• Each cookie is stuffed with blueberry pie filling. As the cookies bake, the filling bubbles out into every crevice, so you get blueberries in every single bite.
• These are anytime cookies, appropriate for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dessert.

On that last point... Look, if you've been here for a while, you know my love of dessert for breakfast. I am not one of those people who think that pancakes and eggs are for breakfast (we almost always eat them for dinner), and cake must be reserved for after dinner.

I'd almost always rather have cake and cobbler and cookies for breakfast than dessert.

But these cookies are particularly delicious for breakfast. I mean, they include granola and fruit, so come on.

But also, wrap them individually and send them in your kid's lunch box. Pull them out for an afternoon snack. Or, of course, serve them for dessert. If you do, consider warming them ever so slightly and topping them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Ohmygodsogood.

Ingredients needed to make these cookies

• All-purpose flour, preferably unbleached + baking powder + baking soda + salt
• Dark brown sugar: To measure, pack it down into the measuring cup quite firmly. In a pinch, you can use light brown sugar, but your cookies will spread a bit more. Dark brown sugar ensures the least amount of spread, which is a good thing when your cookies are stuffed with blueberry pie filling.
• Butter: Use salted or unsalted butter for these cookies. It's entirely up to you. I like a lot of salt in my sweets, so I often use salted butter. If you are sensitive to salt, or just prefer sweets to not be even the slightest bit salty, use unsalted butter.
• 2 large eggs
• Vanilla AND almond extract: Adding a bit of almond extract to cookies and other baked goods is one of my favorite tricks. It adds another layer of flavor and warmth that just kicks everything up a notch.
• Granola: I used Kind Oats and Honey granola in the cookies because it's my favorite kind of packaged granola. When I can't find it, I make this homemade granola, which is honestly even better. (So, if it's better, why don't I make it all the time? Pure laziness.) You can use whatever kind of granola you like. If your granola has raisins or nuts, that's cool. Just know they'll end up in your cookies.
• Blueberry pie filling. Like the granola, use any kind of prepared blueberry pie filling you like, or make it yourself: Blueberry pie.

Additions and substitutions

• To make gluten free blueberry pie cookies: Swap the all-purpose flour for any one-to-one gluten free flour mix. My favorites are Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour and King Arthur Gluten Free Flour.
• Use a different kind of pie filling: Use pretty much any kind of pie filling in these cookies, just keep in mind that the size of the fruit may make it more difficult to stuff inside balls of cookie dough. This problem is easily solved by chopping the fruit into small pieces.
• Add some spices: Warm up the flavors in these cookies by adding some cinnamon and nutmeg, cardamom, or even pumpkin spice.
• Add a hint of lemon: Add some lemon zest to the cookie dough and/or some lemon extract or a couple of drops of lemon oil to the blueberry pie filling.
• Add some dried blueberries: For extra blueberry flavor, stir about a cup of dried blueberries into the cookie dough.
• If you're a die hard chocolate lover, then you probably always think berries and chocolate are a good idea. (I agree.) Stir about a cup of chocolate chips into the cookie dough if you're into that.
• Add some icing: It's surely lily-gilding, but a drizzle of icing on these cookies is magical. My favorite recipes: Simple lemon icing and simple vanilla icing.

Step-by-step photos and instructions

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a bowl and stir with a wire whisk to combine.

Beat the brown sugar and the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add one of the eggs. Beat on medium speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the second egg, and beat on medium speed until fully incorporated.

Add the vanilla and almond extracts and beat for a few seconds to combine.

Add the flour mixture to the butter, egg, and sugar mixture and mix on low speed just until the flour disappears.

Add the granola and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until it is evenly distributed throughout the dough. Cover the bowl and place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

Divide the dough into 21 pieces (each piece will weigh roughly 21 ounces). With lightly floured hands, roll each piece into a ball.

Press each cookie dough ball into the palm of your hand to flatten it.

Add a generous teaspoon of blueberry pie filling to the center. Stretch and pinch the dough up and over the filling. You will not be able to cover the filling completely, and that is OK. The goal is to just wrap the dough over and around the filling as best you can.

Shape it back into a loose ball and place it on the cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough balls, spacing them at least 4 inches apart on the baking sheet.

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 13-15 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet from front to back halfway through. They are done when the centers look almost set and the cookies are lightly browned.

Pro tip! It's important to keep the cookie dough cold or the cookies will spread too much while they bake. So, keep any unbaked cookies in the refrigerator until right before you place them in the oven to bake.

Make ahead instructions and how to store these cookies

The granola stuffed cookie dough can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance before the granola starts to get soft. If you want to make the dough further in advance, up to 5 days, wait to stir in the granola until you're ready to shape them into balls.

Once shaped into balls, the raw cookie dough balls can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours OR frozen for up to three months. Allow the cookie dough balls to thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours before stuffing them with blueberry pie filling and baking as instructed.

Once stuffed with blueberry pie filling, the raw cookies can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.

Once baked, store the cookies in an airtight container. Use a piece of parchment paper to separate one layer of cookies stacked on top of another so they don't stick together.

You can also wrap these cookies individually in plastic wrap, which makes them much easier to pack in lunch boxes, to share with your neighbors, or for a grab-and-go snack.

More blueberry recipes

Hey there, blueberry lover. Here are a few more blueberry packed recipes for your must-bake list:

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to rate this recipe and leave a comment for me.

Happy baking!