This Healthy Peanut Butter Granola Recipe is a tried and true family favorite in our house! We love enjoying it over yogurt or with a splash of almond milk!
This vegan granola recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, oil-free, and refined-sugar free! Perfect for any and all eaters in your life! It’s beloved by everyone who lives in my humble abode, it’s a great make-ahead breakfast for those of us who like to make the mornings as easy as possibly {i.e. sleep as long as we can}!
A great make-ahead breakfast!
Yes it’s true. I am not a “hot breakfast every day” mom. We eat lots of muffins, smoothies, breakfast bars, baked oatmeal, and yogurt with granola…..all of which have been made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Oh and I can’t forget…we even eat….cereal {gasp}… 😉
I like to make breakfast as easy and desirable as possible for my kids. They almost always get to pick whatever they want in the mornings, because the last thing I’m looking for is a battle royale over finishing their first meal of the day. {Truth}.
This is why I think it’s important to have a bunch of nutritious options, like this Healthy Peanut Butter Granola, on hand and ready to be chosen by hungry little tummies.
Is eating granola for breakfast healthy?
It absolutely is healthy! Just check out the nutrition facts in the recipe! One serving of this healthy peanut butter granola has lots of protein, fiber and other nutrients!
It also keeps you full for a lonnnng time, which helps get you through a mid-morning slump!
How do you make Peanut Butter Granola?
It is ridiculously easy to make this peanut butter granola recipe. Here is an outline of the steps to ensure your homemade granola making success!
- Melt together the honey and peanut butter over very low heat, stirring constantly until smooth.
- Add the vanilla and stir again.
- Add the dry ingredients & stir to combine.
- Transfer the peanut butter granola mixture to a greased baking sheet and press it onto the pan (see bottom right photo below).
- Bake!
See! It’s such an easy granola recipe! The only note I have is that if you get to the final stage (before transferring the granola from the saucepan to the baking sheet), and the granola looks crumbly and not wet, add more peanut butter or honey until you reach the consistency pictured below. This is key in achieving clumps!
How to know when your homemade granola is done baking:
The granola will look slightly golden-brown once it is done baking. See the top photo below!
Tip: In order to be extra sure your easy homemade granola is done baking, remove a piece or two from the pan and let it cool on the countertop. If it hardens relatively quickly {in 1-2 minutes} then it’s done. If not, continue baking until it is crunchy at room temperature.
FAQs about this homemade peanut butter granola!
Here are a few commonly asked questions I receive about this peanut butter granola recipe!
How do you make homemade granola crunchy?
Here are a few tips and tricks for ensuring that your peanut butter granola is crunchy (and stays crunchy)…
- Bake at a low temperature. This peanut butter granola bakes at 325 degrees F, which a lower temperature than I usually bake most recipes. The low, slow baking process ensures that the granola will dry out sufficiently to stay nice and crunchy.
- Use enough wet ingredients. The clumps are what make this peanut butter granola so amazing. Making sure the mixture is sufficiently wet before baking is very important.
- How you bake the homemade granola is key. This peanut butter granola needs to be baked in one sheet pressed to the bottom of the pan to achieve maximum crunchiness. The reason for this is that it creates clumps, which are very important to crunchy granola!
How do you store homemade granola?
I recommend storing this peanut butter granola in an airtight, glass container at room temperature.
How long does homemade granola last?
This homemade peanut butter granola lasts 3-4 weeks when stored at room temperature in an airtight, glass container (assuming it has been baked to be crunchy and not soft).
Can you keep granola in the fridge?
I recommend not storing this homemade granola recipe in the refrigerator! It’s best when stored in an airtight container at room temperature!
How do you re-crisp this homemade peanut butter granola?
If you do under bake this healthy peanut butter granola and it becomes soft the next day, no need to worry.
Simply pop it back into the oven for a few minutes to re-crisp it! Just be SUPER careful not to forget you put it back in the oven…I may have done this on more than one occasion. Whoopsies.
How to eat granola:
- On top of yogurt. I recommend eating this served on top of your favorite yogurt with fresh berries! It adds the perfect crunch!
- In a bowl with your choice of milk! You can also serve this homemade granola as a cold cereal! Simply use your favorite dairy-free or regular milk and enjoy!
- As a snack! Sometimes we like to pack individual containers of this healthy peanut butter granola when we go hiking or to the park as a delicious snack!
Healthy Peanut Butter Granola: Substitutions
- Oats: I have had great success with both quick-cooking and old-fashioned oats in this recipe! Using the quick-cooking variety produces a chunkier granola (it’s what I used in the batch pictured).
- Honey: You can easily substitute maple syrup for a vegan option!
- Peanut Butter: Any nut or seed butter can be used in place of peanut butter. If you use a firmer variety of peanut butter {not a runny, natural kind}, just be sure to melt it completely with the honey before adding the rest of the wet ingredients.
- And that’s really it folks! There’s nothing much to this deliciously healthy peanut butter granola! Serve on top of yogurt, drenched in almond milk, or snack on it pain! There’s no wrong way to enjoy this healthy breakfast!
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Healthy Peanut Butter Granola
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned or quick cooking oats*
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 6 TBS natural peanut butter
- ¼ cup honey or maple syrup for vegan
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a large cookie sheet and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together oats, salt and cinnamon. Set aside
- In a microwave safe dish or on the stovetop, melt the peanut butter and honey (or maple syrup) together until smooth.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
- Stir in dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Spread mixture on prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until granola is lightly browned, stirring the granola once gently half way through. (A great way to test for doneness is to remove a small portion of the granola from the pan and set it on the counter. If it hardens as it cools the rest of the granola is done)!
- Remove from oven and let sit until cooled.
- Once cooled, break apart and eat!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on January 2, 2017 but has been updated with new photos, a video and improved steps/information.
Looking for more healthy breakfast ideas?!
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Breakfast Bars {Vegan & Gluten-Free}!
Blender Peanut Butter Banana Waffles {gluten & dairy-free}!
Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal {gluten & dairy free with a vegan option}!
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Joy
May 27, 2019 at 2:52 pmNew favorite breakfast! Such a simple and delicious recipe. Thank you Laura!
Christine
May 20, 2019 at 4:06 pmI bought an expensive peanut butter granola at the grocery store and wanted to see if I could find a recipe to make my own. Your recipe was so easy and yummy. Thank you for the great recipe.
Laura
May 22, 2019 at 7:27 amThank you Christine! Homemade is always the best! 🙂
Veronica
May 3, 2019 at 3:39 pmI’ve been trying to find homemade granola recipes, and this one is my favorite! I just love peanut butter. I added raisins and chocolate chips after it came out of the oven and that worked really well. The batch only lasted a couple days, so now I need to make more! Makes a great snack, and I also added it to my regular cereals for a different crunch.
Siarra
April 6, 2019 at 4:31 pmHaven’t tried this recipe yet, but was curious… can I cut it and make it into granola bars vs chunked granola?
Marie
March 11, 2019 at 10:45 amThis looks delicious! I adore peanut butter so would definitely enjoy incorporating it into my breakfast. I suppose you could also use this granola for baking – I think it would work really well to make some peanut butter granola cookies. Delicious!
Gina
March 4, 2019 at 7:54 pmI absolutely love this! The only thing I changed was I used sugar free maple syrup to make it Diabetic friendly.
Lisa
February 21, 2019 at 2:35 pmWould I be able to leave out the honey (since it’s not vegan) or do I have to substitute with something else? Thanks! 🙂
Laura
February 21, 2019 at 2:43 pmNo omitting the honey
Would result in a failed recipe! As stated in the recipe substitute maple syrup for a vegan option.
Lisa
February 21, 2019 at 2:47 pmAh yes, I was thinking maple syrup would be okay, thank you for the reply! Sorry I didn’t see that you addressed that, I read a bit then scrolled to look at the ingredients! 😉
Ushmana Rai
February 20, 2019 at 1:16 amI love the fact that your recipes are simple, easy to make and taste fabulous. And this recipe has become my favorite because it is healthy and has peanut butter in it.
Lynn
February 10, 2019 at 11:45 amHi would there be a substitute for
Honey/maple syrup? I try not to eat sugar.
Laura
February 10, 2019 at 4:20 pmNot in this recipe! It’s an important part of making everything clump together!
Denise Presley
January 30, 2019 at 2:17 pmHi, I was wondering if I could use peanut butter powder (and how? I’m new to PB powder) to cut down on oils and sugar.
Laura
February 1, 2019 at 6:45 amHey Denise! I do not recommend using peanut butter powder in this recipe!
Suzanne
January 28, 2019 at 7:00 pmYum! This looks absolutely AMAZING! I can’t wait to give it a try. 🙂
Donna
January 21, 2019 at 5:35 pmThis was amazing!!!! Would highly recommend 🙂
Laura
January 22, 2019 at 2:53 pmThank you Donna! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Donna
January 4, 2019 at 11:48 amJust made this without the cinnamon and used maple syrup. Sooooo delicious! Thank you.
Daniel Olsen
December 3, 2018 at 6:02 pmThis stuff is great! A bowl full along with blue berries and almond milk. Fantastic!
Laura
December 4, 2018 at 6:51 amI’m so glad you love it Daniel!
Abby
December 2, 2018 at 5:22 pmWhat did you use to grease the pan? When I made this a year ago, it came out perfect! But when I made it today, I used liquid canola oil to grease the pan, and it was burnt in 10 minutes. Any suggestions?? PSA it still tastes great slightly burnt haha!
Laura
December 3, 2018 at 6:55 amHey Abby! I usually use a non-stick cooking spray to grease the pan! I just made a batch on Saturday actually! 😉
Hannah
November 13, 2018 at 2:21 pmI make this constantly! Love it. I double it and add a bit extra pb and maple syrup than suggested. Sometimes I add chia seeds and flax meal, it’s very easy to adapt. Thank you!
Laura
November 13, 2018 at 3:15 pmYAY! That makes me so happy Hannah!
Samanaz
October 10, 2018 at 2:39 amI’m was looking for some peanut butter recipe and glad that I found this post.I have to take care of the sugar intake due to my medical condition diabetes…but thank you for sharing.
Aishah Minhas
September 9, 2018 at 5:15 pmLove, love, love this granola. I’ve made it three times so far. Delicious,!
Laura
September 9, 2018 at 5:55 pmYAY! So glad you love it Aishah!
Cara
June 24, 2018 at 5:00 pmI made this and it’s delicious! I can’t stop eating it!!
Cindy
June 9, 2018 at 3:39 pmDelish! This granola is so scrumptious. I live in Arizona and made this during the hot dry summer for the grand kids so needed to make a few adjustments. I used maple syrup, almond butter (peanut allergy), and added 1 1/2 tablespoons melted coconut oil. I also added 1/2 cup flaked unsweetened coconut, chopped walnuts and added dried cherries (after granola was baked). Followed the directions for mixing and baking exactly and it was crunchy and clumpy. Thank you for the recipe!
Desiree
June 9, 2018 at 6:37 amThrowing some chocolate chips in one half and peanut butter chips in the other half for me plain m&m’s for the kiddos oh the possibilities!! …on top of ice cream yogurt oatmeal I can’t stop lol
Marianne
June 6, 2018 at 11:20 amHi! Recipe is wonderful, I added slivered almonds also. Had to cut way back on temp though it wanted to burn on me. Just cooked it a bit longer to get is crisp. Thanks for this wonderful recipe😃
Carole
May 24, 2018 at 5:19 pmI’ve made granola for years, using a recipe that my MIL gave me when I was first married. It uses apple juice instead of other sweeteners. I recently started making PB granola as well, and I have to say that your version is ever so slightly healthier than mine! Thanks for sharing, and happy munching. 🙂