Easy Vegan Granola Recipe (9 Ingredients!) - From My Bowl (2024)

FAQs

What ingredient makes granola stick together? ›

Clumpy Granola Method: Add Whole Wheat and Almond Flour

First, it adds a combo of whole wheat flour and almond flour (or almond meal), which act as a binder to hold the oat mixture together. Second is the bakeware. This recipe opts for a 9×13-inch baking pan instead of the standard rimmed sheet pan.

Higher temperatures can cause ingredients like nuts, seeds, and coconut to burn before the batch has a chance to properly dry out and crisp up, Perry says. Stick with a low temperature, keep an eye on your mixture, and stir it from time to time to help it brown evenly.

Chia seeds are often praised for their binding powers. In fact, they secure ingredients so well that they can even be used as an egg replacer. Adding just a spoonful of chia seeds to your favorite granola bar recipe will make a huge difference in its texture.

Make sure that whichever granola recipe you use, it calls for some liquid, typically oil of some kind (I recommend olive oil for a subtle earthy, floral flavor, or melted unrefined coconut oil for subtly coconutty flavor). The liquid will help the chia seeds to gel, ensuring the granola sticks together.

Not only can you transform that soggy, chewy granola back to being blissfully crunchy, but it's easier than you might think. All it takes is spreading the granola in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and heating it in a 400 degree oven for five minutes — essentially re-baking it.

Kellogg's® Granola Crunchy. Indulge with the delicious Kellogg's® Granola Crunchy. It is the perfect combination of rolled oat clusters with shredded coconut and a hint of cinnamon.

On the downside, granola can be high in added sugars, hidden calories, and saturated fat, making some options less healthy.

Add the dried fruit at the end.

You don't want to run the risk of burning your dried fruit in the oven, so stir it into the granola after it cools. That way, you know any dried fruit you add will be soft and chewy, not crisp. (P.S. It doesn't hurt to add a handful of chocolate chips at this stage, either!)

These quick tips on how to make granola will generate deliciously crunchy results every time! Stir for even cooking. About halfway through baking, use a rubber spatula to stir the nuts and oats to encourage even toasting.

More narrowly, binders are liquid or dough-like substances that harden by a chemical or physical process and bind fibres, filler powder and other particles added into it. Examples include glue, adhesive and thickening.

What foods use egg as a binding agent? ›

Eggs can act as binding agents. As their proteins set, eggs bind ingredients together giving strength and stability to meatloaves, casseroles and baked goods. Eggs are used to coat foods with crumbs, flour, etc. as they help these ingredients adhere and also help to create browned appearance when cooked.

You need to stir the granola as it bakes to encourage even toasting. But, about halfway through the total bake time, just let it be. As the sugars caramelize, they cause the ingredients to stick together and eventually form those oh-so-desirable clusters.

The Bottom Line

Granola is healthy in small amounts, especially because oats, nuts, seeds and dried fruit in granola provide some fiber that's good for heart and gut health. However, granola can also be a rich source of calories, saturated fat and sugar, depending on the brand you buy.

Natural peanut or cashew butter – It helps bind the bars together, and it adds protein, healthy fats, and irresistible nutty flavor. Whole rolled oats – They give these bars a perfect chewy texture. If you're gluten-free, make sure that you use certified gluten-free oats.

Try putting a scoop in the microwave and heating it in 30 second bursts on high. If it starts to get sticky, you're golden. Let it cool and the granola should stick together. Then just break it apart into clumps with your fingers!

The oat flour mixed with liquid creates a coating that clings to the dry ingredients and clumps them together, creating an excellent crisp texture.

Parchment paper sheets: Parchment paper prevents the granola from sticking to the pan and therefore allows it to break away into big chunks. Save the sheets and use them again and again — store the used sheets in a bag.