Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Granola (healthy, gluten-free, oil free)
Jun 06, 2019 • Updated Jun 20, 2023
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You guys loved my Cinnamon Toast Crunch Granola recipe so much I figured it was time to share another healthy granola recipe with you. This Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Granola was also inspired by a childhood favourite snack–peanut butter cups and tastes like dessert, but is made with better for you ingredients. I don’t often eat peanut butter cups anymore, unless I’m making them at home, because if we’re being honest, they’re not exactly the healthiest things. That being said, I wanted to find a way to make having that peanut butter cup flavour for breakfast possible. And healthy.
Like my CTC granola recipe, this Peanut Butter Cup Granola recipe is oil free and refined sugar free. We’re using creamy natural peanut butter not only for flavour, but also as our healthy fat source because a good granola relies on that crunchy texture. To sweeten, we’re using maple syrup, but you could play around with another preferred liquid sweetener if you’d like.
Last but not least, we’re adding peanuts for crunch, and vegan chocolate chips to add bursts of chocolate into each bite. We’re also using a little cacao powder to chocolate-ify the granola itself, and you can add as much or as little as you’d like. To keep the recipe oil free, look for a vegan chocolate chip that is sweetened with unrefined sugar like coconut sugar, and free of added oils. I’ve listed the chocolate chips I used in the recipe card below.
Finally, I’d recommend baking this on a nonstick baking mat for best results, no waste and less cleanup. It’s great for baking oil free recipes and you can think of it like parchment paper except reusable and a lot more nonstick, in my opinion.
I hope you enjoy this recipe just as much as you enjoyed the Cinnamon Toast Crunch granola and as always, I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the reviews and seeing your delicious recreations on the ‘gram!
Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Granola (healthy, gluten-free, oil free)
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten free rolled oats
- 1/2 cup peanuts
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter aim to use one with no added sugars, oils etc.
- 3-4 tbsp vegan chocolate chips/chunks I use these Hu Kitchen oil-free chips
- 2 tsp cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- optional
- pinch of mesquite and maca powder I find that these enhance the caramell-y flavour, but can totally be left out
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 320F while you prepare the granola.
- In a large bowl, whisk together peanut butter, maple syrup, cacao powder, vanilla extract and salt until smooth.
- Add rolled oats and peanuts and mix with a spatula until everything is evenly coated. Add chocolate chips for a melty/clumpy result, or reserve to add after baking.
- Transfer mixture onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet or nonstick baking mat and spread out evenly. The more spread out, the more evenly the granola will cook--try to avoid tall stacks of granola mixture as it will result in uneven baking.
- Bake for 10 minutes, flip or toss granola and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until granola is golden brown. Mine was perfectly cooked at about 25 minutes!
- Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
