coconut almond granola clusters

Oh you guys. This granola took up basically a whole afternoon of my life! Not like I had anything better to do. But I am stubborn and things gotta be what I want it to be. Thats sounds so horrible… Ehhh well. I took pictures in a different spot than I usually do. Those basically sucked, so I wasted forever and a day only to delete them. Then I retook them, edited them, deleted like a 100, uploaded them, and even now I hardly like them. Then I had this post all written up, closed the page because I thought my eyeballs might fall out since I had been sitting in front of the computer, staring at pictures of granola for about two hours. 

It gets even better. When I went back in, HEY LOOK. All my hilarious, witty writing was GONE. Nowhere to be seen! Shoot me in the face and kill all my dreams of unicorns and rainbows, why don't you. I almost cried. Not even kidding. {Hashtag blogger probs.} On top of that, because of all the shooting and reshooting and moving to and fro from different bowls and what not, the granola was so crispy that it kinda lost it's chunkers. UGH. I initially made it for my pre-gym snacks this week, but it didn't even make it to Tuesday.

So yah, this granola has to be a big deal for me to spend hooooooooours relentlessly working on a post. I think I'm becoming a granola expert, not to toot my own horn or anything. But just click on the granola tab on my sidebar and you'll see what I'm talking about. There's pages and pages {and paaaaages} of the stuff.

I am really picky when it comes to the granola I shove in meh face. It has to be crunchy, crispy, super duper sweet, and CLUMPY. I'm a clump-freak. And if you're a fellow clump-freak, this granola is for you. I've made far too many granola recipes that turn out basically like dry oats. That's disgusting and disappointing. So I set out on a journey… A journey to clumpy granola happiness. 

I did my research on granola and I came up with four steps necessary for that chunkage we just love and adore. NUMERO UNO- egg whites. I've never used egg whites in my granola up until now but have seen many recipes using them. The egg whites add crisp and crunch to the granola. We're heading in the right direction, amiright!? Secondly- quick cooking oats. As much as I love the rustic look of those huge rolled oats floating around my cereal bowl, they're not your friend in this situation. Quick cooking oats are smaller and thus will stick together easier than rolled oats would. We want our oats to stick together. Know what I mean?? Neeeeext- low and slow baking. This ensures that the granola gets evenly baked and all golden brown like we love. Last and most importantly- Minimal stirring. We all know I'm the most impatient lady around so this is where I basically have to sit on my hands, eyes glued to the oven, spatula out of reach. We only stir the granola ONCE through the entire baking process because we don't want to break up their happy little friendships that are being built. {Sorry, I'm tired.} Stick to those steps and you, my friend, are on your way to GRANOLA CLUSTER HEAVEEEEEEN. 

coconut almond granola clusters 

2 c. quick cooking oats

1/2 c. coconut flakes

3/4 c. raw almonds, roughly chopped

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 egg white

1/3 c. dark brown sugar

1/2 c. maple syrup or honey

2 tbsp. oil

Preheat oven to 325ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients until evenly combined. Pour onto baking sheet, pressing down with a rubber spatula like you would press down granola bars. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and lightly stir around. Press down again and return to oven. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool before breaking into chunks. Store in a jar or airtight container.