My initial problem was locating culinary lavender. Simply plucking the buds from lavender that you buy at a florist does not work because you’re never sure if the flowers have been sprayed with chemicals. Although I had to drive 20 minutes to a specialty store to locate the culinary lavender, but I was glad I made the trek. Penzey’s Spices in Menlo Park is an absolute gem (no, they didn’t pay me to say that)! Their store is quite big, and it is filled with any spice that you’ll ever need, perhaps many that you’ve never heard of. I felt like a kid in a candy store. I managed to contain my excitement by picking up a few spices with the lavender, but I have a feeling that I will be going there again. When it comes to granola, I’m a big fan of the clusters. I’m that person who digs out all the granola clusters in the bulk bins. In fact, I won’t even bother buying granola unless I know there is a 1:1 ratio between the clusters and granola dregs. But like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, I don’t want my clusters to be too big or too small. I like them juuust right. My next problem was that I had never mastered the art of baking my own granola clusters. I’ve made plenty of granola but few clusters ever made it out of the pan. So, I thought it was time to consult the experts. I found a post on Food52 on How to Get Clumps in Your Granola, and it turns out that the key to creating granola clusters is minimal stirring and a whisked egg white. Before laying the granola onto a baking sheet, add a frothy egg white to the mixture and resist the temptation to stir the granola while it’s cooking. Once the granola is done, wait until it has cooled completely before breaking them off. Voila! Granola clusters! But as I mentioned before, I’m all about the 1:1 cluster-to-dregs ratio in my granola. I gave the granola a few nudges halfway through the baking time to make sure that some of the granola was loose. Let me tell ya, this is some good granola! For more granola inspiration check out this Chocolate Cranberry Granola recipe:
