Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Freeze-dried strawberries add crunch and fruitiness to this flavor-packed oat and nut cereal. You and your kids will love the peanut-butter-and-jelly vibe.
Try it on top of morning yogurt or make some for a back-to-school lunchbox treat or afternoon snack.
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😍Why You’ll Love This PB&J Granola
- Classic peanut butter-and-jelly flavor
- Crunchy and delicious for breakfast or snacking
- Easy, one-bowl recipe
- Pantry-friendly with plant-based protein from peanut butter powder
Ingredients
- Olive oil: Or use a neutral oil, like canola.
- Maple syrup: To sweeten and bind the granola. Swap in honey or possibly date paste.
- Vanilla extract: Lifts the flavor up a notch.
- Rolled oats: Best texture for homemade granola; avoid instant and steel-cut oats.
- Peanut butter powder: Creates rich peanutty flavor and adds plant-based protein.
- Peanuts: Crunchy protein with fiber and healthy fats
- Sunflower seeds: Mineral rich, with protein, fiber, and healthy fats
- Freeze-dried strawberries: Concentrated berry flavor and crunch. Can swap in dried blueberries.
🧑🏽🍳How to Make
1️⃣Before starting, wash hands thoroughly, lathering with soap and rinsing with running water.
2️⃣Whisk together the oil, maple syrup (or honey), peanut butter powder, and vanilla. Combine the oats, peanut butter powder, nuts, seeds, and salt.
3️⃣Add the oats, nuts, seeds, and salt. Stir thoroughly until evenly coated.
4️⃣Transfer wet granola to a large sheet pan (affiliate link) lined with heavy-duty foil or parchment paper.
5️⃣Bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through baking to prevent the edges from browning too much.
6️⃣Remove from oven and let cool completely undisturbed.
7️⃣Stir in the freeze-dried strawberries and any other additions (chocolate chips). Enjoy!
Tips for Crunchy Homemade Granola
Watch it closely toward the end of baking to prevent it from browning. When the desired color is reached, remove it from the oven. Thirty minutes is only a guideline.
To encourage larger clusters, do not stir aggressively at the half-way baking point. Bring the darker oats at the edges into the center and move the paler center mixture outwards. Press down flat again before returning to the oven.
Egg-white addition: Another way to encourage formation of large clusters, is to toss the final granola mixture with a beaten egg white before pressing it into the sheet pan. You'll get a few more grams of protein and granola that sticks together.
❄️Storage
Cool completely and do not stir. Once cool, you can sprinkle pieces of freeze dried strawberries over the top and and store in an air-tight container of your choice.
Do not add freeze-dried fruit before baking!
If using foil as a liner, carefully lift it by the edges to the countertop so the granola will cool more quickly.
Resealable bags, lidded jars, and food storage containers all work well. For larger clusters, stir the granola less aggressively.
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Substitutions and Variations
Granola is a perfect canvas for adding your own personal touch!
Liquid sweeteners: These help bind this recipe, so please don't choose sugar.
- Honey works well in a 1:1 substitution. 🍯
- Date paste is not as sweet so you may want to use a little more. Because it's so moist, you may need to bake the granola longer. You can use this recipe if you want to make it.
🌱Seed substitutions: Try pumpkin seeds instead of sunflower seeds.
Fruit fixes: Freeze-dried raspberries are a delicious choice, or try dried blueberries if you can't find freeze-dried strawberries (affiliate link) or raspberries (affiliate link). Or swap in banana chips, which can be found in any grocery store!
Dessert: Add ¼ cup of mini dark chocolate chips with the strawberries once the granola is cool.
How to serve
You'll love it over plain or fruit-flavored Greek yogurt. For a fancier version, make a parfait with layers of yogurt and fruit.
For a quick, simple breakfast, eat it like cereal, topped with a little milk of your choice.
Of course, it's a delicious topping for a smoothie bowl, or enjoy as snack when hiking or working at your desk. The kid-friendly flavors make it excellent for lunchboxes, too.
Or simply, eat it by the handful any time you crave a tasty, nutritious snack.
Nutrition Notes
This PB&J Granola is a healthy, gluten-free choice with its delicious toasted oat clusters.
- Whole-grain oats provide fiber and complex carbohydrates for lasting energy.
- 🥜Peanut butter powder and peanuts add plant protein along with satisfying peanut flavor.
- Peanuts and sunflower seeds contribute mostly unsaturated fats, plus minerals such as magnesium.
- Freeze-dried strawberries add concentrated berry flavor and beneficial plant compounds without the moisture of fresh fruit.
- 💪🏼Each ¼-cup serving provides about 5 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber.
For a substantial, protein- and fiber-rich breakfast, serve the granola over Greek yogurt or skyr with fresh berries. The yogurt adds plenty of creamy protein and calcium, making the combination a good one for supporting bone health.
Similarly, pour some dairy or calcium-fortified plant milk over it for an easy way to boost both the protein and calcium in your bowl.
FAQ
No. This recipe was only tested with peanut butter powder and was created to take advantage of the peanut-forward flavor of the powder, which is not as moist as regular peanut butter and has less fat and fewer calories.
No, this does not work because fresh and frozen strawberries have too much moisture.
This is a good option. Freeze-dried raspberries are especially nice, and banana chips also taste great with the peanut butter flavor.
If you can't find freeze-dried fruit, dried blueberries or apricots (chopped) are a good substitute.
To achieve crunchy granola, make sure that you press the oat mixture flat in the pan and bake until golden. Some cooks also like to lower the oven temperature and bake the granola longer or perhaps mix in a beaten egg white.
If crunchy, clumpy granola is your holy grail, you can try one of the methods in this excellent article about how to create clumps in your granola.
The basic answer is yes, but please check that your oats are certified gluten-free to be sure there is no cross-contamination.
Related recipes
No Sugar Added Granola is sweetened with date paste. Contains no refined sugar or syrups!
Granola with Chia Seeds and Cherries adds chia nutrition to the oat blend.
Apple Crisp Granola is a shortcut dessert that uses granola as a crunchy topping.
Overnight Oats with Peanut Butter Powder: These have yummy flavor and extra plant-based protein from peanut butter powder.
PB&J Granola with Peanut Butter Powder and Strawberries
Equipment
- Liquid and dry measuring cups
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Wooden spoon or spatula
- Large sheet pan
- Heavy-duty aluminum foil or parchment paper
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup olive oil or canola oil, or a combination of the two
- ⅓ cup maple syrup or substitute ⅓ cup honey or ½ cup date paste (see Notes for using date paste)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups rolled oats do not use instant or steel-cut oats
- ½ cup peanut butter powder
- ½ teaspoon salt fine-grained
- ½ cup peanuts chopped
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- 0.6 ounces freeze-dried sliced strawberries broken into smaller pieces
Instructions Start Cooking
- Wash hands thoroughly before starting, lathering with soap and rinsing with running water.
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a large sheet pan with heavy-duty foil or parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together oil, maple syrup, peanut butter powder, and vanilla until well-combined.⅓ cup olive oil ⅓ cup maple syrup ½ cup peanut butter powder 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Add rolled oats, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and salt, and stir thoroughly with a wooden spoon until the oats, nuts, and seeds are evenly coated.3 cups rolled oats ½ cup peanuts ¼ cup sunflower seeds ½ teaspoon salt
- Transfer the granola mixture to the prepared sheet pan and spread it into an even layer.
- Bake for 30 minutes, gently stirring the granola half way through baking to bring any overly brown edges into the center of the pan. Be sure and press the granola down into a flat layer again after stirring.Begin checking it for doneness after 20 minutes. If it is browning quickly, remove it from the oven before the full 30 minutes to prevent burning.
- When the granola has reached the desired color, remove it from the oven, and let it sit until completely cool. This may take up to an hour. If using foil, you can cool the granola more quickly by carefully lifting the foil off the pan and placing it on the counter. Try not to disturb the granola until it has finished cooling, especially if you enjoy it with clumps and clusters to munch on.
- Mix the freeze dried strawberries into the room temperature granola.0.6 ounces freeze-dried sliced strawberries
- Serve the granola over yogurt for breakfast or enjoy by the handful as a snack.Store the granola in your choice of air-tight container. A resealable bag, glass jar, or air-tight food storage are all good choices.
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