Peanut Butter Granola
Posted Feb 17, 2019, Updated May 13, 2024
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This peanut butter granola recipe is easy to make with 6 ingredients in 30 minutes! It’s a nutritious alternative to store-bought granola!
This Healthy Peanut Butter Granola Recipe is a tried and true family favorite in our house! We love enjoying it over yogurt, overnight oats, smoothie bowls, or in milk!
This peanut butter granola recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, oil-free, and refined-sugar free – a nutritious alternative to sugar-laden, store-bought varieties. But it’s still irresistibly delicious – with a rich peanut butter flavor and big chunks!
It’s a delicious, make-ahed granola perfect for breakfast on the go.
Healthy Peanut Butter Granola: Ingredients & 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 which we prefer.
- Honey: Maple syrup is a great substitute.
- Peanut Butter: Any nut or seed butter can be used in place of peanut butter. If you use a firmer variety of peanut butter, just be sure to melt it completely with the honey before adding the rest of the wet ingredients.
How to Make Peanut Butter Granola
Let’s discuss how to make peanut butter granola, and don’t forget to watch the video.
Begin by melting together the honey and peanut butter over very low heat, stirring constantly until smooth.
Next, add the vanilla and stir then add the dry ingredients & stir to combine.
Bake
Transfer the peanut butter granola mixture to a greased baking sheet and press it onto the pan and 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!
When the peanut butter granola is finished baking, it will look slightly golden-brown.
Tip: In order to be extra sure the granola is done, 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.
Remove the granola from the oven and let it cool completely, then break it into chunks and serve or store.
Store/Freeze
Store this peanut butter granola in an airtight container or glass jar with a lid at room temperature for up to 2 to 4 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Serving Suggestions
Here are some of our favorite ways to enjoy this peanut butter granola.
- On top of yogurt. I recommend eating this served on top of your favorite yogurt with fresh berries! It adds the perfect crunch (or yogurt overnight oats).
- 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!
Peanu Butter Granola Recipe FAQs
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!
This homemade peanut butter granola lasts 3-4 weeks when stored at room temperature in an airtight, glass container.
Granola is best when stored in an airtight container at room temperature – it retains it’s crispness this way best.
Reheat in the oven set to 300 for 2-5 minutes. Be very careful not to let it burn.
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Healthy Peanut Butter Granola Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick-cooking oats
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 6 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup honey (or maple syrup)
- ½ teaspoon 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 15-20 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
- 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 which we prefer.
- Honey: Maple syrup is a great substitute.
- Peanut Butter: Any nut or seed butter can be used in place of peanut butter. If you use a firmer variety of peanut butter, just be sure to melt it completely with the honey before adding the rest of the wet ingredients.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I bought an expensive peanut butter granola at the grocery store and wanted to see if I could find a recipe to make my own.
You will LOVE this one Jenna!
Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe. I’m not a huge peanut butter fan (although hubby is:) but this tasted amazing. I added Chia seeds and flax seeds to it this morning as my one and two year olds really need the extra fiber along with all the other amazing nutrition found in them. It tasted great before baking so I can’t wait to eat it with some raw goat’s milk 🙂 Thanks again.
Can you add nuts, seeds, coconut, etc to this recipe?
Yes of course!
Tried this recipe out for the first time a few weeks ago (trying to get more into cooking). The peanut butter clumped up while heating, so I added about an 1/8 to a 1/4 cup of milk to the peanut butter and honey mixture. Added the mixture to the oats and it again clumped up very easily. After tasting it, it turned out to be a great recipe for no bakes. Been making these about once a week since and always looking forward to more.
Thank you for sharing your experience Brandon! I’m curious what kind of peanut butter you used?! It should never clump when heated!
I used this recipe as a guide to making my own granola for the first time. I wanted a cleaner alternative to store-bought granola and had all these ingredients in my pantry. The oatmeal gives it the perfect touch of creaminess while still remaining crunchy and I would definitely make it again. Would it work the same if you use agave or maple syrup as a vegan alternative?
I made this recipe yesterday, and not only did my kids love it, but my incredibly hard to please husband did as well!! I love that I know exactly what is in it, and I don’t have to spend tons on store bought granola anymore! It’s safe to say that we have a new go to granola recipe!
I made a batch of these this morning. Within an hour it was gone, so I had to make another batch! 😂. I love how simple, delicious & inexpensive this recipe is! I will no longer be buying peanut butter granola!
New favorite breakfast! Such a simple and delicious recipe. Thank you Laura!
I 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.
Thank you Christine! Homemade is always the best! 🙂
I’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.