Chunky Granola is a family favorite, and I've acquired way too many recipes for it. Way too many. I have so many granola recipes I forget which one we like the best, but I usually come back to this one because it contains the word "chunky".
Egg White or Flax & Water For Chunky Granola
Over the years I've experimented with different ways to bind the granola. For a while I used egg white, and while I sometimes still use egg, it seems a mixture of flax and water is just as effective. But what really keeps the granola chunky is not stirring. Of course you have to keep it from burning, so that means baking at a really low temperature and shielding with foil or parchment for all or part of the bake time. Here's a batch prior to baking.
This recipe makes a pretty reasonable size batch. It's not too small, not too large. And if the recipe works well for you, you'll probably want to change it up a bit by using different kinds of nut and seeds.
Granola Add-Ins
Dried fruit is optional. Half the time I leave it out completely, but if there's an interesting mix in the bulk bin or if I have some dried cranberries I'll add the fruit. I'm also pretty loose with the nuts. Granola recipes usually call for raw nuts, but I use whatever is around. Even roasted and salted nuts work.
Cute Bags for Granola
And finally, if you like the little white tin tie bag in the picture, you can order some bags for granola online. The one in the photo is a window bag, but I peeled the white covering off so the whole clear bag is exposed (not sure why).
Recipe
Extra Chunky Granola
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter (21 grams)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or coconut oil (13 grams)
- ¼ cup brown sugar (50 grams)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup (20 grams)
- 1 tablespoon honey (20 grams)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt (plus a little more for sprinkling on top)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon egg white approximately (15 grams) OR use 1 T. water and 1 T. ground flax
- 2 cups oats, old fashioned type (160 grams)
- ¼ cup pepitas or sunflower seeds optional
- ¼ cup coconut flakes optional
- ¾ cup mixed nuts**
- ½ cup dried fruit of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick foil or parchment paper.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and stir in oil, sugar, maple syrup, honey and salt. Cook for about a minute over low, stirring to dissolve brown sugar. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and set aside.
- Put the egg white in a large mixing bowl or if using water and flax, put those two things in.
- Put oats into the bowl with the egg white (or flax mixture), then stir with a mixing spoon to blend the white in with the oats. They'll still seem pretty dry at this point.
- Add the seeds and nuts to the mixture, then pour the liquid mixture into the bowl and stir until blended.
- Spread the mixture over the bottom of the lined baking sheet to make thin slab. It should be all squished together, as if you were making bars.
- Bake at 275F for 40 minutes. After about 20 minutes in, carefully scrape up edges with a spatula and flip the granola on the edge towards the center. With the back of a spatula gently mash it back into a slab and continue cooking. Alternatively, skip the step of flipping the granola with a spatula. Instead, check at 20 minutes and just cover the slab with foil. Not flipping the granola will give you larger chunks in the end.
- Remove from the oven after the full 40 minutes. It should be warm, slightly browned and still chewy, but will crisp as it cools. Let cool completely. Break into chunks and stir in the fruit.
Notes
I used to bake this at 300, but now I use 275 and bake for a little longer. The granola browns slower and doesn't require as much stirring which means you get more chunks in the end.
To press the granola into a slab, you can dampen your hands with a little water. This keeps the granola from sticking to your hands and it also adds a tiny bit of moisture to the granola which helps it stay in chunks. You don't want to add too much water, though.
Anna says
Hi Jennifer,
I sometimes use the roasted and salted too. Thanks for the review!
Jennifer says
I made this last night and am eating it at work with my co-workers. It's a hit. I followed the recipe as written, other than using more sunflower seeds. I bought one of those hanging bags by the checkout at the grocery store and would guess it was about 3/4 of a cup. Also, those were roasted and salted, so not as healthy, but still tasted good within the mixture.
Anna says
Thanks Jazmin! I like it too. Another one I'm really into at the moment is Andy's Fairfield Granola from Nigella Lawson's website. It's pretty chunky, plus it has some added spices to it. If you're in the mood for something with applesauce, ginger and cinnamon, check it out.
Jazmin says
this granola is awesome!! i've tried several recipes and this is the best!
melissa says
Hi Anna,
I tried it! I halved the recipe, but used the same amount of liquid egg white (1 tablespoon). I think next time I would have to use more. The granola came out wonderful, but it didn't clump together in big clusters. So maybe I should try it again with regular egg white!
Awkward Kitchenette says
Great tip about the egg whites! I'll have to add it to my favorite granola recipe! My recipe is super simple, but definitely too loose!!
Katrina says
I made this granola today, added a little wheat germ and flax meal. It's great. It's similar to the one I usually make, except the egg white. I like that it adds protein.
Randi says
Have you tried CI's granola? Its chunky, but no egg whites. Its so tasty.
Anna says
Hi Melissa,
I've never used Quick Whites, but my guess is that they would work. Let me know if you try it.
melissa@the hungry artist says
I love clumpy granola. I recently bought "Just the Clusters" Vanilla Almond cereal at Trader Joe's and it is basically, clumpy granola (and very addicting). It would be better to make it ourselves though. I've never tried egg white with granola. What a great idea! I usually have Quick Whites in the fridge. I find that it is thinner than a regular egg white though. Do you think it would work in this recipe???
Lisa Ernst says
The egg white addition sounds like a great idea for this recipe. Since we don't keep eggs around the house very often, I might try the flax substitute since with hot water it develops that same property as egg whites. The giant clumps looks perfect.
lynn @ the actor's diet says
oh my god. just give me a bowl of chunks.
Anna says
Jan, yes. I've learned to put the fruit in at the end, otherwise it dries out. But lately I've been leaving it out completely because Fuzz doesn't like dried fruit.
Sheri says
Ha. I have a post on granola queued up! I share your granola obsession. And tanks for giving me another recipe to try!
Chewthefat says
It's funny Adam should mention peanut butter, because I was just thinking the texture resembled those tasty Nature Valley Crunch Peanut Butter granola bars that were popular lunchtime snacks when I was a kid. I think they also used to make them in slab or crumble form in little pouches, too...
Katrina says
Ooh, I want to know if there is a blog all about granola! Mine certainly has a LOT!
I love clumpy granola. In fact, lately I've been just eating my granola out of my hand and would love it if it were clumpier.
I'll try this one for sure, and 2 cups of oats just aren't enough here, I'll double the recipe. 😉
Jan Harris says
Why do you have to put the fruit in after it bakes, does it dry out too much?
Anna says
Rebecca, thanks for the tip! I've been meaning to try a dried milk version as well. In fact, I think it might be fun to make a dried milk version and somehow incorporate a high protein cereal just to give the granola more staying power.
Rebecca says
Adding 1/2 cup of dry milk powder or soy milk powder in with the oats also seems to help the granola clump up.
Sue says
I love granola but have a difficult time putting the brakes on the quantity I consume and my husband is even worse. The chunkier the better in my opinion because I prefer it dry. I'm glad you test and share all of these granola recipes! Thank you!!
Adam says
Everytime you post a granola recipe, I remind myself that I should be making granola. I love it so much, and a chunkier, non sprinkling kind sounds perfect.
I need to get on this, I see you've even left room for me to add peanut butter :).