I love chunky granola that has big clusters but I hate it when it is so hard, you can barely bite through it without breaking your teeth and even once you do you mouth gets shredded by all the sharp edges.
Big clusters or small clusters? Which would be you preference? Personally I love big cluster granola, But, with that said I have found most chunky granola recipes too hard, difficult to eat without shredding your mouth. So, I decided to make my own chunky granola recipe, one that has great flavour, with nice big clusters but that is also easy to eat and enjoy.
Why is your homemade granola not crunchy
A few common reasons why your granola might not be turning out crunchy usually comes down to the ingredients and then how it has been baked. In other words, the basics really do make the biggest difference — which seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?
Sweeteners. Liquid sweeteners like for example maple syrup or honey are the best, as your granola bakes the sugars will caramelize and crisp up. The liquid sweeteners coat the oats and nuts nice and evenly which I find helps as you bake them. I also find that while, yes, granular sugars will melt and caramelize as they bake, once they set up they are way too hard and crunchy. And, we don’t want that.
Low and slow, that is the key thing to remember when it comes to baking. You will also want to bake your granola in a single layer on a baking sheet, in a low temperature oven. Don’t rush this part, you will be happy you let it bake slowly once it is all done. Also, once it comes out of the oven leave it alone to cool, don’t be tempted to touch it. This can take around 30 minutes. Once it is nice and cool you can then break it up into chunks and get it stored in an air tight container
Nut butter in granola
I am not sure if this is true but it is what I have found personally. By adding nut butters to my granola I find it stops them getting too hard and crunchy.
Which nut butter can you use? You can use any you like. But, obviously it is going to affect the final flavour, so make sure you keep that in mind. My favourite is a half and half mix of almond butter and peanut butter.
Alternative nut butter suggestions:
- Peanut butter
- Almond butter
- Coconut butter
- Tahini
- Cashew butter
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Tools you will need
- Small/medium Saucepan
- Wooden spoon or spatula
- Measuring cups, Measuring spoons
- Pestle and mortar or mini chopper, Optional.
- Large mixing bowl
- Baking sheet, line with a silicone mat or parchment paper
- Large Airtight container. I love pretty glass jars like these ones
Ingredients
- Rolled oats. You do not want to use quick oats for this recipe
- Nut butters. I love the flavour from using half peanut butter and half almond butter. Also these nut butters are easily available and probably the cheapest.
- Maple syrup, honey or agave. You want to use a natural liquid sweetener. A combination of the two work really well. And like the nut butter depending what you use it will affect the end flavour. Honey is obviously sweeter in flavour than maple syrup.
- Nuts. Any combination works for this recipe. I really like a combination of almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts and pecans
- Cinnamon powder
- Ginger powder, this will give the granola a warming, spicy kick.
- Vanilla extract
- Sea salt
- Optional additions. Hemp seeds, cocoa nibs, dried fruit, candied ginger, coconut flakes.
How to make Chunky Granola
Preheat oven to 300F, 150C, gas mark 2
Prepping
Into a medium saucepan add in the nut butters along with the maple syrup or honey and vanilla.
Over medium–low heat, melt the ingredients until they’re smooth and runny. You don’t want them to boil — we’re just melting here. Stir often, especially as everything warms up, because no one wants burnt nut butter. Yuck.
You don’t actually need this step you could just mix all the ingredients together. But I find it is so much harder to mix together and ends up taking longer. By melting the nut butters and syrups, it means they coat the dry ingredients evenly without leaving any dry chunks.
If you’re using whole nuts, you’ll first need to break them into smaller chunks. There are several ways to do this; for example, you can use a pestle and mortar, a blender, or a mini chopper. You could also place them into a plastic zip lock (freezer) bag and bash them with a rolling pin, this is actually quite satisfying.
Mixing
Add all of the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. This will include the oats, nuts, cinnamon ground ginger, and the melted nut butter mix. You can also add any other additions too.
Spread the mixture evenly onto a lined baking sheet so it’s roughly 1 inch thick. You may need to use two baking sheets make two batches. This is important, because you really don’t want the granola spread too thickly.
Baking
Bake for around 40 minutes, keeping an eye on it as it cooks. You want the granola to turn lightly golden; however, be careful it doesn’t get too dark. It will still be soft to the touch at this point.
Remove from the oven and leave until it has thoroughly cooled down. This is so that it can harden and become crunchy.
Once cooled break up up into the cluster size you want and place into an airtight container. It is good for around 3-4 weeks. It does get softer the older it is.
Enjoy this chunky granola recipe.
Serving Suggestions for the chunky granola recipe
- Greek yogurt
- Milk
- Fresh fruit, like raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and banana
- Any flavoured yogurts
Simple Chunky Granola
This is a simple chunky granola that is packed full of flavour. It has the perfect amount of crunch and chewiness
Ingredients
- ½ Cup Peanut Butter
- ½ Cup Almond Butter (You can use whichever nut butters you prefer, I like the half and half)
- ⅔ Cup Maple syrup
- ⅓ Cup Honey (You can just use all maple syrup or all honey)
- ½ TSP Vanilla extract
- 4 Cups Rolled oats
- 1 Cup mixed nuts, (I like a combination of almonds, hazelnuts and pecans)
- 1 tsp Cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp Ginger powder
- pinch sea salt
- ½ Cup optional additions of your choice. I like to add cocoa nibs and hemps seeds. (See notes below for more suggestions)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300F, 150C, gas mark 2
- In a small or medium saucepan add the nut butters you are using, maple syrup or honey and the vanilla.
- On a medium low heat, melt the ingredient till they are nice and runny. You don't want to boil them, we are only melting. You will need to stir it often especially as they get warmer. No one wants burnt nut butter. Yuck.
- If you are using whole nuts, you will to need to break them up into smaller pieces. You can do this a number of ways (see notes below).
- In a large mixing bowl we are going to now add all the ingredients together, the oats, the nuts, cinnamon and ginger powders, and the melted nut butter mix. You can also add any other additions now too. like the hemp seeds, cocoa nibs, fruit etc.
- Spread the mixture evenly onto a lined baking sheet, you want it to be around 1 inch thick. You may need to use two baking sheets or make 2 batches. You really don't want the granola mixture to be spread too thickly.
- Bake for around 40 minutes. You want it to be turning lightly golden, careful it doesn't get dark. It will still be soft to the touch at this point.
- Remove from the oven and leave until it has thoroughly cooled down. This is so that it can harden and become crunchy.
- Once cooled break up up into the cluster size you want and place into an airtight container.
It is good for around 3-4 weeks. It does get softer the older it is.
I hope you enjoy this chunky granola recipe.
Notes
- If you don't want to melt the nut butters and syrups, you cand just mix all the ingredients together. But I find it is so much harder to mix together and ends up taking longer. By melting the nut butters and syrups, it means they coat the dry ingredients evenly without leaving any dry chunks.
- For the nuts to break them up into pieces, you can use a pestle and mortar, a blender or a mini chopper. You could also place them into a plastic zip lock (freezer) bag and bash them with a rolling pin, this is actually quite satisfying.
- I like to just add all of the ingredients at the same time. This just saves messing about with the granola as its cooking. Also I want it all combined into the clusters, so adding them at the end doesn't really work for that.
- Optional additions you can add to your granola. Make it a bit special. Hemp seeds, cocoa nibs, dried fruit, candied ginger, coconut flakes.
- Serving suggestions include ,yogurt either plain, Greek or any other flavoured yogurts, fresh or even frozen fruit, like, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, and milk.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 630Total Fat: 31gSaturated Fat: 8gUnsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 64mgSodium: 692mgCarbohydrates: 73gFiber: 9gSugar: 17gProtein: 17g
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