Almond Butter Granola

This almond butter granola is made with clean, simple ingredients and baked into big, crunchy clusters. Nutty, lightly sweet, and perfectly crisp, it's the kind of crunch you keep coming back for.

I am a homemade granola eating machine. I love, love, love it. I eat it as a snack every afternoon with my cinnamon honey latte and I'm in heaven.

This almond butter granola is definitely a fave and perfect for those who can't have my equally delicious peanut butter granola. It bakes up nice and crisp into big, crunchy clusters with the perfect sweetness.

It's made with creamy almond butter and naturally sweetened with maple syrup for a healthy yet craveable snack.

Key Ingredients

• Oats - You’ll need old-fashioned oats for this recipe. I like Bob’s Red Mill or One Degree Organic Rolled Oats. You can snag a big bag of One Degree at Costco for a great deal.
• Slivered almonds - Be sure to use slivered, NOT sliced almonds. Sliced almonds are much thinner and will burn in the oven.
• Golden flax meal - I love golden flax meal. It adds a punch of nutrients like fiber, healthy fats, and omega-3's. And golden flaxseeds have a light, mild flavor so you won't notice it's in there.
• Almond butter - Most almond butter brands come separated with oil on top. Make sure you stir it really well before you measure it!
• Coconut oil - I use refined coconut oil because it has a mild flavor that doesn't taste very coconutty.
• Maple syrup - My favorite sweetener! Almond butter and maple syrup are a match made in heaven.

Instructions

Before you start, preheat your oven and line your sheet pan with parchment.

• Pulse oats - I blend a portion of the oats in a food processor first. This creates better clusters in the end! Don't skip this step.
• Combine dry ingredients - In a large bowl, stir the ground oats with the remaining oats, flax meal, and salt.

• Add the wet ingredients - Melt the almond butter and coconut oil together and stir until it's smooth without clumps. Stir in the maple syrup/vanilla then dump it on the dry ingredients. Stir well until it's all coated and sticky.
• Spread the granola - This step is important. You need to spread the granola into a ½ inch thick rectangle. Don't spread it too thin or it will get too dark in the oven and taste burnt. Don't worry if the granola looks soft when it comes out of the oven. It hardens as it cools.

• Bake the granola - Forty four minutes may seem like a long time to bake this granola, but that's not a typo! If you lay it down ½ inch thick, it will bake up nice and crisp and break into big clusters!
• Break it up and let it cool - Don't break it up immediately. Wait at least 30 minutes to break it into pieces, then let those pieces cool completely. They continue to harden as they cool.

Expert Tips

• Stir the almond butter before you use it. Better quality almond butter is typically separated when you first open it. The oil sits on top and you need to stir it well until it's mixed together before you add it to the oats.
• Don't spread the granola too thin. This is important for two reasons: 1) The thickness is what creates nice, big clusters 2) If you do, it will brown too quickly with the long bake time.
• The granola hardens as it cools. It will feel soft when it comes out of the oven. That's fine! Even when you break it apart, it will still be a little soft. You have to let it sit and cool for several hours before it's nice and crisp!

Storage Tips

• Don't store the granola until it's completely cool! I let mine cool on the sheet pan for about 4 hours before I transfer it to a jar.
• Store the granola in an airtight container or zip-top bag. You don't need to refrigerate it. It should stay good for up to 3 weeks.

More Granola Recipes

• Dark Chocolate Granola
• Maple Walnut Granola
• Homemade Granola Bars
• Almond Butter Energy Balls