We tested: one surprising ingredient is the best way to get granola clusters

Making homemade Granola is easy – just stir together OatsNuts and seeds with a sticky-sweet coating, spread it on a baking sheet, and bake until the mixture crops, browns and smells toasty. But coaxing a package of Granola to form the satisfying crunchy clusters that make it so irresistible? That takes a little more fines. Viking viscous ingredients like egg White, Peanut butter, or sourdough discard to stirring in binding agents like all-purpose flour or aldoly richer. But which one works the best? We tested some of the most popular methods to find out.

The tests

Control recipe: Crunchy granola. This recipe is simple and straightforward, after a normal granola pattern: oats, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, seeds and wheat mixed with oil and wheat. Maple syrup.

Sourdough Discard: 1/2 cup (140 g) of Sourend's subdogly discarded to the wet ingredients

All-purpose flour: Half of the wheat germ in this recipe is replaced with all-target flour

Almond flour: Half of the whites convert in this recipe has been replaced with Almond flour

A. White: 2 large egg whites added to the wet ingredients

Peanut butter: 1/2 cup (135 g) natural peanut butter added to the wet ingredients

The process

The Crunchy granola Recipe made an excellent control because it did not make many clusters. For each test, I changed one ingredient – adding or a dry or wet element – to assess if it made a difference in the size and size of granola clusters.

Each test – including the control – is baked for 90 minutes at 250˚F (1211C) and stirred once half by baking. The original recipe recommends stirring every 15 minutes, but moving the ingredients around breaks them apart and discourages clusters of forming, so I kept to a minimum. The Granola batches are allowed to cool completely on the baking sheets before I removed the granola.

The results

All the tests, including the control formed delicious granola. But there was a noticeable uptick in cluster formation of adding almond flour or egg noti, and we noticed another significant leap in the size and amount of clusters when we added. As they stocked up, from least to most clusters:

Control: The Granola baked up Crispy and golden brown but is mostly independent and cluster-less.

Sourdough Discard: Surprisingly, adding sourdough discard has not significantly change the overall flavor of Granola, but the added liquid was help with clump formation. The package included a handful of small clusters, about 3/4 “to 1” in diameter.

Almond flour: The addition of almond flour has a bit of extra opman flavor to the Granola, and helped generate a moderate number of clusters who ranged between 1 “and 2” across.

A. White: This granola is evenly clustered over the package. But the individual naggets, which were about 1 “crossing is weak and fell apart.

Peanut butter (recommended): Adding peanut butter helped the granola clump in large plates that had to be broken up into smaller pieces. The individual Granola bunches were a wapping 6 “to 7” across – greater than any other method. But the peanut butter has the granola a little chewe texture and left some chakky residue behind after baking.

All-purpose flour (most recommended): Adding all-purpose flob given the granola a hint of extra fingers flavor. But more importantly, it was quite effective in binding the ingredients together to form an impressive number of sizible granola clarterers, ranging from 2 “to 4” across. After cooling, the Granola has the vibe of a crispy granola bar that was broken up.

The ruling

From a clustering standcent alone, adding peanut butter proved the higher method. The sticky nut butter helped cork the other ingredients together and create great, cragi clusters. The peanut butter Granola is noticeably corer than the other, and it has a little chalki oral that some people could find off-putting.

For effective cohesion without any textural downsides, and put all-purpose meat was the winner. It helped to tie the oats and nuts together effectively, and leaving behind heaps of crunchy Granola Classola Classtail clusters that are stands directly in a bowl. Added flour to the dry ingredients should work with most granola recipes. Start by adding about a quarter cup (30g) all-purpose flour per 3 1/2 cups (312 g) of old-fashioned oats, and experiment until you find your preferred ratio.

Other tips for getting big granola clusters

Beyond Injredients, Technique Also Matters When Comes to Encouraging the formation of CRISPY GRANOLA CLUSTERS. Follow the tips to maximize your Granola Recipe:

The baking sheet with parchment paper. Lining the baking sheet with Parchment paper Helps with easy granola removal that doesn't break up clusters the road scoops scoops up with a spatula can.

Catch the granola down. After spread the granola on the baking sheet, use the back of the spoon to catch it a little. This will help the ingredients cling together as they bake.

Stir infrequently. Staring Granola during the baking process helps it brown evenly, but breaking up the ingredients with a spoon or spatlass. For the best clumps, stop staring at a minimum – no more than once during baking. After her stir, make sure the ingredients down on the baking sheet.

Let the Granola cool completely. A lot of this clustering action happens out of the oven, because your granola cools, crisps and solidifies. So it comes to room temperature before removing it from the baking sheet.