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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What kind of peanut butter, sugarfree, natural or regular?
All natural
Awesome thanks I appreciate the effort you put into making this.
🥰 I love it ,! So much better than the original 👌
yummy! wasn’t quite sweet enough for me so I’ll add some stevia liquid next time. also needed to add some salt – none of my nuts seeds or butters were salted.
I just made this for the first time but I used what I had on hand: walnuts instead of pecans and almond butter instead of peanut butter. It’s so delicious I’ve been sneaking bites off the cookie sheet while it’s cooling! And it’s very easy to make. I love all your recipes!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great granola, just like the real thing.
As a diabetic it would be much appreciated if the nutrition listed sugar along with the carbs.
As a fellow diabetic, I think it’s unnecessary. It’s the total carbs that affect our blood sugar, not the sugar. And given that none of my recipes have any added sugars, the sugar count itself will be very low.
what is the purpose of the water? Mine was still quite soggy after the 30 min. not sure what I did wrong.
Water helps it clump together better. Did you use a different sweetener?
Hello, I like to know if I don’t add any sugar, will the mixture still be sticky?
I really have no idea, I have never tried it that way.
*love*love*love this recipe. It’s my “go-to” granola recipe for Keto yogurt and granola, which had been something I avoided early on in my low carb journey because of all the carbs in BOTH. Now, with Keto Ratio Coconut yogurt and Carolyn’s granola, I can indulge my peanut butter, granola and yogurt habits to my heart’s content!
This is quickly becoming a staple in our household, both my husband and I love it! We just got back from a trip to Costa Rica where we purchased fresh cinnamon on a spice tour so I added some of it today… perfect! Thank you!
Could you switch out the butter/oil with something else? Do you think more peanut butter could work? Or apple sauce (I know not keto)? I don’t like the fat content of oils/butter.
Sorry, no. I don’t think that would work well. Feel free to cut back on it but for it to become crunchy, you need a little oil.
I’m definitely interested in making this. In looking at your ingredient list, it occurred to me that the granola would probably keep longer if I use coconut oil in place of the butter. Since I’m the only one who eats keto granola, and don’t eat it every day, longer keeping time would be a plus.
I’ve made this twice in a week, it’s a big hit with both my husband and myself. Thank you so much, I needed something crunchy for the mornings and this is very easy to make.
Carolyn, I loved this recipe. It was simple to make with easy to obtain ingredients, clear instructions, I don’t know why I’ve waited so long to make this! Thank you for posting this, since I find keto breakfasts a challenge to make. You can only eat so many egg dishes…thank you for taking us along your keto journey, I am learning so much through your blog.🥰
OMG!!! The best granola ever and I have tried a few for sure!! I was ready to eat it before I baked it… I used butter and coconut and smooth peanut butter. I don’t think I can hold on until breakfast. Thank you
Just made this, it is delicious! It’s going to be a go to for breakfast and snacks!
Enjoy!