Perfect Peanut Butter Granola is a healthy peanut butter granola recipe with no refined sugar, minimal oil and big peanut butter flavor.  It’s naturally vegan and gluten-free!

overhead shot of Peanut Butter Granola in a white bowl topped with bananas

The past several years I’ve been trying to buy less processed food.  That said, it’s next to impossible for me to make everything from scratch when my two teenage boys inhale everything that I make in minutes!

I do the best that I can, but I need to be realistic and pick and choose to make the things that are most important to me and supplement with quality store bought items here and there.

This Perfect Peanut Butter Granola has become a staple in the house lately and while it goes quickly, it only takes minutes to prep so I have no problem cranking out batch after batch.

I’m kind of a granola snob because I like nice, big clusters and I can’t stand when it’s too sweet.

I was buying KIND Peanut Butter Granola but it wasn’t peanut buttery enough, and it’s about $5-6 a bag.  I decided to work on making my own peanut butter granola that would be more cost effective and give me the big peanut butter flavor that I crave.

And let’s not forget about those big clusters that I love!

Peanut Butter Granola on a baking sheet

How to make this recipe

What’s the secret to this Perfect Peanut Butter Granola?  It’s not really a secret, but there are a couple of tricks to achieving granola that’s perfectly golden brown with those big chunky clusters.

  • Baking the granola at a lower temperature like 325 degrees is a must for perfectly golden brown granola.  Do not stir the granola during baking for reasons that I’ll address next, so baking it at a lower temperature is necessary or the granola will burn.
  • The trick to achieving big, crunchy granola clusters is to avoid stirring it during baking.  I pack the granola down into a 1/4″ thick layer and pack it into a nice rectangle on a parchment lined baking sheet.
  • Bake the granola for 25 minutes or until golden, remove from heat and cool completely.  Don’t stir it once it comes out of the oven either!
  • Once the granola has cooled, break it into large clusters and stir in some add-in’s if desired.  See Notes for ideas.
Peanut Butter Granola process collage

Is granola healthy?

  • This peanut butter granola recipe is healthier because I’ve used unrefined sugar and less of it.  This recipe is just sweet enough, which results in big peanut butter flavor!
  • I’ve also used a quality all natural peanut butter for this recipe that contains no hydrogenated oil, which results in lower saturated fat.  Natural peanut butter is also is generally lower in sugar and sodium, unlike some brands.  All peanut butter brands aren’t created equally, so check the label to see how your favorite brand stacks up.
  • This peanut butter granola recipe is low in oil with only 2 tablespoons, compared with some granola recipes that call for twice that amount.  There are 8 grams of fat per serving, but it’s low in saturated fat and the rest are heart healthy fats!
front shot of Peanut Butter Granola in a bowl topped with bananas

Peanut Butter Granola ingredients

The best part about making homemade peanut butter granola is that you control the ingredients and there are no preservatives. 

This peanut butter granola recipe only contains 6 ingredients, all of which you probably have in your pantry:

  • old fashioned rolled oats
  • peanut butter
  • maple syrup
  • canola or coconut oil
  • cinnamon
  • salt

Does salt even really count as an ingredient?  Probably not, which means this granola is actually only 5 ingredients.

And you can even pronounce all of them! 🙂

Recipe notes

  • This recipe is naturally vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free if you use certified gluten-free oats. 
  • Customize your peanut butter granola with your favorite sweetener or throw in a few add-ins like chocolate chips, roasted peanuts, dried fruit or coconut flakes.
close up overhead shot of Peanut Butter Granola in a white bowl with sliced bananas

See all of my Breakfast recipes for more inspiration.

More granola recipes you’ll love:

If you make this recipe I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment and rating below, or tag me at @flavorthemoments on Instagram!

Peanut butter granola in white bowl with banana on top

Perfect Peanut Butter Granola

Servings: 12 servings
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Perfect Peanut Butter Granola is a healthy granola with no refined sugar, minimal oil and big peanut butter flavor.  It’s naturally vegan and gluten-free!
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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup natural peanut butter creamy or crunchy
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil or sub with your favorite
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats

Equipment

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  • Place the peanut butter and coconut oil in a large microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds or until melted.  Add the maple syrup, cinnamon and salt, and stir well to combine.
    1/2 cup natural peanut butter, 2 tablespoons coconut oil, 1/3 cup pure maple syrup, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
  • Add the oats and stir until well coated with the peanut butter mixture.
    3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • Pour the oat mixture onto the prepared pan and spread in an even layer, about 1/4" thick, packing it down well.  Packing it down will help give us those big clusters!
  • Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25 minutes or until golden….do not stir!  Remove from heat and cool completely without stirring.
  • Once cooled, break the granola up into chunks and place in an air tight container at room temperature. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Using all natural peanut butter with no hydrogenated oil is recommended to keep this low in saturated fat, sodium, sugar and preservatives.
  • Add some fun add-ins like chocolate chip, dried or fresh fruit, coconut flakes or roasted peanuts to change up this recipe!

Nutrition

Calories: 185kcal, Carbohydrates: 22g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Sodium: 76mg, Potassium: 163mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 7g, Calcium: 27mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.

Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Author: Marcie
Keyword: peanut butter granola, peanut butter granola recipe
All recipes and images © Flavor the Moments.
Did you try this recipe?Be sure to tag @flavorthemoments with the hashtag #flavorthemoments on Instagram so I can see what you made!

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