The Key Ingredient for Crunchy Granola Clusters

I’m not afraid to admit that I’m the kind of person who fishes through a bag or box of granola to find the big clusters — frankly, I don’t know many people who don’t prefer those big granola chunks. The obvious downside is that within a few days, I’m left with nothing but tiny oat pieces, rogue nuts and raisins, and a bit of granola dust.

To circumvent this issue, I started making my own granola. It takes a little bit of patience and practice, but once you’ve got the hang of it DIY granola is inexpensive, customizable, and easy to make big batches all at once. But the best part of doing it myself is the ability to add a secret-weapon ingredient that leads to the kind of granola that satisfies my need for clusters. And best of all, the secret ingredient isn’t expensive or hard to find. It’s egg white.

All it takes to make crunchier, chunkier granola is a single well-beaten egg white! The egg’s protein will help the oats bind to each other and create delicate clusters. Plus, when cooked, it adds a little extra crunch, and doesn’t flavor the granola in any way.

I first learned this trick when I tried Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen’s Big Cluster Maple Granola recipe (because, as I mentioned, I’m always on the hunt for granola clusters). As Perelman says, “nothing glues like protein.” She’s right. I have added a single egg white to every batch of granola I’ve made since.

I like playing with different spices, sweeteners, and mix-ins, but I tend to stick to a baseline recipe of three cups of rolled oats, a large egg white, 1/2 cup liquid sweetener (usually maple syrup, sometimes honey), 1/4 cup of oil, a teaspoon of salt, and a teaspoon of spice, all mixed together, spread over a sheet pan, and baked for 45 minutes at 300°F. I find that it’s easier to mix in dried fruit and toasted nuts after the granola has baked, because then there’s no risk of them getting dried out or burning.

If you’re someone who absolutely needs a recipe to follow, here is the fall-themed granola I’ve been making this year. But feel free to use your own recipe, and just add in the egg white and stir together before baking. One final cluster tip: Make sure your granola isn’t too spread out over the baking sheet. That might seem counterintuitive if you’ve made granola before, but you can’t end up with clusters if your oats aren’t touching each other to begin with!