This Simple Addition Will Give You Ultra Crispy Granola
What's not to love about granola; the crispy, totable snack many of us have been enjoying since we were kids? A fairly healthful treat — as long as it doesn't go too heavy on added sugars and oil — granola is typically a mix of rolled oats, nuts, and a sweetener such as honey, though it often features other ingredients such as puffed grains and dried fruit (via Healthline). Since granola is basically a formula and not a specific recipe, the beauty of this beloved snack is that it's infinitely customizable. It can feature the flavors of gingerbread, including molasses and dried spices, and can even be made keto using nuts, seeds, and coconut without any grains.
Those who love granola have their preferences when it comes to the cereal's ingredients, but many also have a favorite texture as well. Some folks seem to go wild for chewy granola bars, but others love their granola to have a ton of crunch. If you fall in the latter camp, you're going to want to know about the one ingredient you can add to your homemade granola to get an uber-crispy result.
Whipped egg whites bring crunch to baked granola
If you love crunchy granola, you don't need to load up your homemade recipe with extra fat in order to obtain it. According to Food & Wine, adding two whipped egg whites per every 3 cups of rolled oats will help the granola clump up in the oven, turning extra-crunchy as those clumps cool. The outlet grabbed the trick from cookbook author Julia Turshen, who also likes to use ¼ cup olive oil and ¼ cup maple syrup per batch of oats.
To employ the trick at home, you don't need to whip the egg whites until stiff; simply frothing them until they achieve soft peaks is fine. Mix the egg whites, oil, sweeteners, oats, and any other desired ingredients, spread onto a sheet pan, and bake in 400 degree F oven for half an hour, stirring every 10 minutes. The frothy-egg technique can also be used to make crunchy granola bars, such as in our recipe for Upside-Down Pineapple Granola Bars, which feature dried pineapple rings, dried cherries, and cacao nibs.