Chunky Granola

My family has been granola crazy since I started making it myself.  They can’t get enough!  We find ourselves not only having it for breakfast on our yogurt with fresh berries, the kids are having it as an after school snack and my husband is eating it as a late night dessert.  I tell you it’s crazy the amounts of granola we are going through.

Here’s the main reason: I finally learned how to make it correctly!  Actually, I didn’t make it incorrectly before, it just wasn’t chunky like my family likes it.  My previous Maple Almond Granola recipe is still what I use now, but I learned how to chunk-i-fy it.

Here’s the secret ingredient for chunky granola!  Can you tell what it is?  C’mon, give it a guess………………..

It’s egg whites!  This is one egg white, for 3 cups of oats.

You beat it until it’s a little frothy and just add it to your favorite granola recipe.  Easy peasy!

Dump the beautiful mixture into a heap on a parchment-lined sheet pan.

Lay it out flat and do not touch it at all while it spends one and a half hours in the oven.

Here’s is what you’ll get.  Lovely sheets of yummy granola.  You can break it apart into bite-sized pieces and enjoy any way you like, for breakfast or dessert.

Maple Almond Granola

I have been buying 2 boxes of granola a week for my family and they go through it crazy fast.  After realizing how much money I was spending on it, I thought I should start making it myself.  Not only is this easier on the wallet, this tastes better than anything you can buy in your grocery store.

The best part about making homemade granola is that you can put anything you want into it.  You can use your favorite types of nuts or dried fruits.  Add or delete what you want to make the granola your own.

I started with old-fashioned rolled oats, sweetened coconut, sliced almonds, brown sugar and a few pinches of salt.  Combine it thoroughly and prepare the wet ingredients.

Here is the oil, maple syrup and honey all measured out.

Pour the syrup mixture into the dry mixture and toss to combine.

Spread it all out on a half sheet pan.

Here’s the granola after baking.  At this point, the warm granola is warm, crunchy and caramelized and is making my kitchen smell oh so good.

While the pan is still warm, I mixed in the raisins.  It took all my will power from eating all of this before my family had a chance at it.

Look at this up close and tell me you don’t want to run to your kitchen and make some right now!  The toasted oats, almonds and crispy coconut give your mouth a wonderful crunch.  The raisins are warm and plump and balance everything else.

Here’s how much one batch makes.  It fills up two 32 oz Ball jars.  It just so happened that a friend came over as I was filling these jars, so I gave him one.  I heard about it for the rest of the night from my hubby, “How could you give that away?!”  He only stopped when I promised to make him more tomorrow.  Funny hubby!

 

Homemade Granola

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup shredded sweet coconut

½ cup toasted flax seed (optional, but so good!)

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons honey

1 cup raisins

1 egg white

 

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

 

In a bowl, combine the oats, nuts, flax seed, coconut, salt and brown sugar thoroughly.

In a measuring cup combine maple syrup, honey and oil.

Pour the wet mixture over the oats mixture and toss well to combine.

Beat one egg white  in a bowl until frothy and pour over the whole mixture and combine well.

Bake  for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a golden brown color.

Remove from oven and break the granola into bite-sized pieces.

Add raisins and mix until evenly distributed.