Date Published: Aug 16th, 2022 | Last Updated: Aug 16th, 2022
Author: Abby |Category: sides, salads, snacks, easy, healthy
Serves: 2 cups (enough for 4 salads) | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 45 mins

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WARNING: THESE ARE HIGHLY ADDICTIVE.

Time is ticking down to our wedding date and our diet is in full swing. I’m always on the hunt for interesting recipes or ways to sneak in oats and cut down on carbs (such as the steel cut oats risotto recipe). When I first came across the original recipe from Grazing Kayne, I was skeptical. How can oats replace croutons? The ingredient list didn’t even seem like it would surmount to anything close to a crouton, but I gave it a try anyway – boy was I glad I did! These things are SO addicting. It’s deliciously salty, sweet, with a mild spicy kick. I nearly ate the first batch in one sitting! I tried a couple of other oat crouton recipes after but this recipe had the best flavours so of course they had to be an addition to the Polyphagic Abby collection.

“Croutons” – do they really taste like croutons?

If you’re looking for something that’s light and crunchy with a buttery garlic flavour like a regular crouton, then the answer is no. These taste nothing like a bread crouton, BUT these oat clusters are super crunchy and is a good replacement for traditional croutons in salads to achieve the same crunch factor and healthier with whole ingredients and fewer carbs. These are sweet, salty, and a little spicy which gives it a completely different flavour profile and in my opinion, way more addicting.

How to achieve clusters:

The first time I made these they didn’t cluster at all and I ended up with a loose granola. They flavours were still good which didn’t stop me from eating them by the handful, but it took a couple of tries to finally achieve the clusters. A few features of this recipe helps create clusters:

1. The frothy egg white adds protein which helps it alls tick together.
2. Press down the oat mixture into the pan before baking.
3. GENTLY toss every 15 mins. I tend to scoop and flip large parts of the baked oats with a spatula and gently breaking it up into large clusters before continuing to bake.
4. Once done baking, let it cool COMPLETELY to allow it to solidify before storing it. If you tamper with it while it’s warm, the clusters will break easily.

The serving size for the recipe is enough for 4 salads, but if you’re like my and can’t stop snacking on them, I suggest you double the recipe. It keeps really well in the pantry in an air-tight container for a couple weeks.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

• 1 cup (95g) rolled oats
• 1/4 cup (38g) sunflower seeds, hulled
• 1/4 cup (34g) pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 tsp cooking salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 Tbsps (113g) maple syrup
• 3 Tbsps olive oil
• 1 egg white, whisked until frothy

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180˚C and prepare a lined baking sheet.

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix together: rolled oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, salt, pepper, rosemary, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, garlic, maple syrup, olive oil, and egg white.

Spread evenly on the prepared baking sheet and press down flat. Bake in the preheated oven. GENTLY toss every 15mins until deep golden brown (~45 mins). Try to toss it in chunks to encourage clustering. Don’t toss too much or else it will break up the clusters. Let it cool completely. Store in an air tight container.

Summarized Recipe: