Welcome to your new favorite breakfast. This easy low carb granola is packed with healthy fats, protein, and satisfying crunch – no oats required! Whether you’re craving a bowl of cereal in the morning or a tasty snack in the afternoon, this recipe delivers big flavor without the carbs.
If you need more ideas for high protein breakfasts, you’ll also love Chocolate Protein Muffins and Keto Pancake in a Mug. Great for busy weekday mornings.
I’ve always had a soft spot for homemade granola, and our house was almost never without a big container of it. When I switched to a low carb lifestyle, I thought granola was one of those foods I’d have to give up forever. But as I began to experiment with low carb ingredients, I realized that cereal didn’t have to be made with grains.
This Keto Peanut Butter Granola was my first foray into making low carb cereal, and it has stood the test of time. Readers love it, and so does my whole family. Whenever I make a batch, it disappears within a few days.
Since that time, I’ve created other delicious recipes like Keto Granola Clusters and Keto Cinnamon Cereal. But this peanut butter version might just be my all-time fave.
What readers are saying
“Absolutely delicious! I couldn’t wait to sample and while it was warm, I made myself a bowl. It’s easy to make and would definitely make it again. I would eat this a breakfast, but also a snack with maybe some sugar free chocolate or peanut butter chips!” — Sonia
Why we love this recipe
- Easy to make: Making your own keto granola is astonishingly easy, and it’s ready in 40 minutes.
- Ultra-satisfying: With plenty of healthy fats, protein, and delicious crunch, you won’t miss the high carb stuff!
- Free from: This recipe is gluten-free, grain-free, and egg-free. And of course, contains no added sugars.
- Customizable: Not a fan of coconut? Allergic to almonds? You can easily switch out the various nuts and seeds to suit your tastes.
- Low carb: With only 4.1 grams net carbs, you can indulge in your favorite breakfast again!
Ingredient Notes
- Nuts and seeds: Chopped nuts and seeds are perfect for making that crunchy breakfast treat. The combination you use doesn’t matter much, although I do recommend using a mix for better texture. I like a combination of almonds, pecans, and sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
- Shredded coconut: Adding in something with a finer texture, such as shredded coconut or almond flour, helps bind the granola together a little more. You can also use flax seed meal or ground hemp seeds.
- Sweetener: It’s important to understand that different keto sweeteners will give you different results. If you want a crunchy texture, you need to use an erythritol-based sweetener. For a better understanding of how all the various sugar alternatives work in baking and cooking, check out my Ultimate Guide to Keto Sweeteners.
- Protein powder: You can skip it but I recommend it for both flavor and a boost of nutrition. You can also use egg white protein powder.
- Peanut butter: This is an egg-free recipe so stirring in a thick nut butter helps to hold the other ingredients together and create clusters. You don’t have to use peanut butter, as any nut butter will do.
- Butter: This also helps bind the granola, but you can switch it out for coconut oil as well.
Overview: How to Make This Recipe
- Process the nuts: Add the nuts and seeds in a food processor and process until they resemble coarse crumbs.
- Mix in the other dry ingredients: Transfer to bowl and stir in the shredded coconut, seeds, sweetener, and protein powder.
- Add the wet ingredients: Melt the peanut butter and butter together in the microwave then pour over the nut mixture and stir well. Stir in the water.
- Bake: Spread the mixture onto baking sheet and pressing it down firmly with your hands. Bake 30 minutes, stir mixture again, press it down and bake until done.
- Break into pieces: Let the granola cool completely then break up large clumps.
Tips for Success
Aside from the ingredients specified above, the other important trick to getting crunchy keto granola is pressing it down firmly. You will notice in the instructions that I have you press it before and during baking. This helps it clump and stick together, and bake crisp against the hot pan.
You also need to let it cool completely after baking. Keto baked goods always continue to firm up and crisp up as they cool.
Sweetener Notes: For crunchy keto granola, you really need an erythritol based sweetener. Any amount of allulose or xylitol will prevent the granola from crisping up properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conventional granola is made with grains and added sugar, so it’s not a keto-friendly food. However, you can make your own low carb granola with nuts, seeds, and non-nutritive sweeteners. There are also some store-bought brands, and my favorite of those is NuTrail.
The same way you serve conventional granola! I like mine with heavy cream but it’s great with non dairy milk or Greek yogurt. And sometimes we just like grabbing a handful of dry granola to snack on.
This keto peanut butter granola recipe has 7.9g of carbs and 3.8g of fiber per serving. That comes to 4.1g net carbs per serving.
More delicious breakfast recipes
Keto Peanut Butter Granola
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (214.5 g) almonds
- 1 1/4 cups (148.5 g) pecans
- 1 cup (112 g) shredded coconut, or almond flour
- 1/2 cup (33.5 g) pumpkin seeds
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) granulated sweetener, (erythritol based)
- 1/3 cup (36 g) vanilla whey protein powder, (or egg white protein powder)
- 1/3 cup (86 g) peanut butter
- 1/4 cup (56.75 g) butter, (use coconut oil for dairy-free)
- 1/4 cup (59.15 g) water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300ºF and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, process the almonds, pecans, shredded coconut, and pumpkin seeds until they resemble coarse crumbs with some larger pieces. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the sweetener, and vanilla protein powder.
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt the peanut butter and butter together. Pour the melted peanut butter mixture over the nut mixture and stir well, tossing lightly. Stir in the water – at this point, the mixture should begin to clump toether.
- Spread the mixture out evenly on the prepared baking sheet and press it down firmly with your hands. Bake 30 minutes, stirring halfway through and re-pressing it down. Remove and let cool competely.
- Break up any large clumps with your hands.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Can I make this without the whey protein or any other protein powder? If so how much would the macros be then ? Thanks
You can make it without. I don’t know what the macros are, though. You should be able to calculate that quite easily.
6 Stars really! I love…LOVE this granola. IT’s the best and I know because I’ve made so many. I literally will wake in the morning and say….Granola…MUST have! Your recipes save me. When I started keto, I was following Maria Emmerich’s blog. Her stuff scared me and didn’t taste really good. When I found you I realized keto CAN look different for different people. Your approach is easy and kind. Your stuff is user friendly. You turned me onto Swerve and it’s delish. I just like your approach and appreciate your hard work. My granola is in the oven right now. Thanks for helping me stay on track. I’m a SIBO suffered and found out grains ruin my gut. This eating style is totally doable with your blog!
Hi D, Thank you so much. I am delighted to hear it. I need to make more granola, now that I think of it!
I just made this. Delicious!!!
Arggg! I did everything like I was supposed to but I forgot to add the water at the end. Maybe it will be ok.
It should be fine, it just may not clump together as well.
Major hit in our family! Making second batch only days after the first. Thank you!
With the sunflower seeds, are those hulled or do you throw them in shells and all? I don’t care for the shells but I’ve never seen them sold without them. I might substitute hemp hearts.
Hulled, sorry! I see the raw seeds all the time at Whole Foods and such.
It is absurd how good this is with ice cream. I make it once a week now, absolutely one of my favortite keto recipes. Thank you sooooo much
Wow I’ve never paired it with ice cream but now I need to!
Mine didn’t clump together much, maybe too much water? I used the whole 1/4 cup. It tastes amazing though so that’s the main thing. Hubby loves granola but complains about how much sugar is in it. I’m hoping this will satisfy his cravings.
Will this recipe work if I leave out the whey protein?
Yes it will.
I want to make this but don’t have any whey protein powder, can you leave out or substitute it with something else?
In this recipe, you can leave it out.
Thank you for this recipe. My fiance is just starting a new job and needs a snack he can bring around with him in a baggie . . . and cheese and pepperoni just won’t cut it on the showroom floor 🙂
Please, cause I suck at the math, what it the net carbs per serving?
Thank you again!
Just subtract the fiber from the total carbs.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, No Seriously Thank You for this granola recipe!! My husband and I have gone Keto since the end of March to help him bring down his A1c and it’s been amazing, but one of my favorite breakfasts was low-carb yogurt with granola. Now I can have it again :))
My Q is: how much of a cup does a serving measure? I just made this last night and didn’t have a total measurement before he dug into it! Thanks again!! You’re one of my most reliable recipe sites.
A serving is about 1/3 cup, which is standard for granola.
Does this work with Monk Fruit as a sweetner?
It should!
do you think natural peanut butter would work even tho its not as thick as regular? & to replace the butter with coconut oil?
yes it will be fine.
Guestimating the serving size to be 1/2 cup? Can you please confirm. Thanks!
As with most granola, it’s more like 1/3 cup. Very nutrient dense.
I know your recipe is written with butter, but do you think coconut oil or ghee would work? I find it very annoying when someone basically wants to change the whole recipe and then asks the person who posted it if it will turn out ok. I’m definitely not trying to change it because I think it sounds amazing!!! (I just can’t do butter) My 10 year old son has recently discovered his love for granola, but as you said, lots of granola recipes are not healthy at all. Can’t wait to try this one!
I think it would work well with either and I appreciate your concern about changing the recipe too much! Coconut oil will have more of a strong taste, just keep that in mind.