If you’re a granola lover but have trouble managing all the carbs, you’re going to love this protein granola recipe. Every serving has 5 grams of protein, 11 grams of carbs, 90 calories, and I have 4 different flavors to keep things interesting.
Protein granola is super easy to make, requiring nothing more than mixing a handful of ingredients in a bowl before baking. And you can make this protein granola in bulk so you have breakfast and snacks ready to go for weeks at a time!
Ingredients for Protein Granola
In the recipe card below you’ll find 4 different flavor variations—cinnamon vanilla, chocolate peanut butter, Butterfinger, and pumpkin spice. While there are a few ingredient differences for each flavor, you’ll need 3 primary ingredients for each variation.
Primary Ingredients: Rolled Oats, Puffed Rice Cereal, and Protein Powder
The recipe calls for rolled oats, but quick oats would work fine if that’s all you have on hand. Though I wouldn’t recommend something like steel cut oats.
If you’re unfamiliar with puffed rice cereal, it’s kind of like Honey Smacks in raw form. If you have trouble finding this in your local grocery, you can order it from Amazon. Puffed kamut seems to be a viable alternative.
Beyond this high protein granola, puffed rice cereal on its own is a great way to increase the volume of snacks or add crunch to yogurt.
The Best Protein Powder for Protein Granola
As you can see in the photo above, I used PEScience Select Whey and Casein. I use this for all of my protein powder recipes, and you can order 5-serving samples if you’d like to try it out. My affiliate code ‘mason’ will save you 15% on PEScience products.
Since scoop sizes vary with different protein powders, be sure to match the grams (47g) and not just the number of scoops. And if you’re using a whey-only protein powder, you may need to add more protein powder. I originally made this recipe with a whey protein powder and used 84 grams.
Secondary Ingredients
This is where you’ll see some differences between the four recipes. I would start with making one recipe as-written then experimenting with substitutes.
- Honey or Maple Syrup (like the granola in my high protein yogurt bowls)
- Peanut Butter, Light Butter, or Canned Pumpkin
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, Sugar Free Pudding Mix, or Pumpkin Pie Spice
- Pumpkin Seeds or Raw Nuts (Which nuts have the most protein?)
- Liquid Egg Whites
To keep this a low sugar granola recipe, I like using the sugar free sweeteners when possible. Swerve makes great non-glycemic, zero-calorie substitutes for everything from granulated to brown sugar.
Substituting Wet Ingredients
If you notice your mixture is too moist, add more dry ingredients. And if your protein granola mixture is dry, add a bit more butter (avoid adding too much liquid, as it will make soft protein granola instead of crunchy).
How to Make Protein Granola (Video)
For troubleshooting help or modification ideas, check out this video where I make the Butterfinger granola with protein powder.
Final Protein Granola Notes
While the recipes don’t call for any extras like nuts or chocolate chips, they make great additions and store well at room temperature. Just be sure to add them to your nutrition facts!
My favorite way to eat this protein powder granola is with a single serve Greek yogurt like Danon Light and Fit. If you wanted to add even more protein, you can mix one of these cups (or about 150g of yogurt) with one scoop of PEScience protein for a thick protein fluff.
It would also be a great addition to something like my homemade protein trail mix.
Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or need help making substitutions. If you come up with a new flavor combination, be sure to let me know about that as well. And recipe reviews are always appreciated!
High Protein Granola
How to make low carb, high protein granola 4 ways using protein powder, puffed rice, and oats. The recipe below is for a cinnamon vanilla version, and you'll find the chocolate peanut butter, Butterfinger, and pumpkin spice in the notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 C (80g) Rolled Oats
- 2 C (34g) Puffed Rice Cereal
- 1/4 C (26g) Graham Cracker Crumbs
- 1 1/2 scoops (47g) PEScience Protein Powder, vanilla
- 2-3 tsp Ground Cinnamon, to taste
- 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt (optional)
- 1/4 C (60mL) Walden Farms Pancake Syrup, or your choice of sugar free syrup or sticky sweetener
- 1/4 C (56g) Light Butter, I used Land O' Lakes
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick spray.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Gradually add the syrup and light butter, folding everything together gently.
- Transfer the mixture to the baking sheet. Use a spatula to spread it evenly across the entire baking sheet. Be sure to break up any large clumps and aim to have as many holes or spaces as possible in the mixture.
- Bake for 15 minutes before removing to break up/stir. Bake for an additional 6-10 minutes, checking every 2-3 minutes until the granola is golden brown and crispy. (The granola will continue to crisp a bit at room temp so don't burn it.) Store in an airtight container at room temp.
Notes
Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola
- 1 C (80g) Rolled Oats
- 2 C (34g) Puffed Rice Cereal
- 1 1/2 scoop (47g) PEScience Protein Powder, vanilla or chocolate
- 1 Tbsp (5g) Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder
- 1/3 C (87g) Creamy Peanut Butter
- 2 Tbsp (42g) Honey
- 3 Tbsp (46g) Liquid Egg Whites, or the whites of 1 large egg
Bake for 14 minutes before removing from the oven to break up and flip on the baking sheet. Bake for an additional 4-8 minutes, shaking every 2-3 minutes until the granola is crispy.
Macros per 1/4 cup: 105 calories, 6g protein, 12g carbs, 4g fat
Butterfinger Granola
- 1 C (80g) Rolled Oats
- 2 C (34g) Puffed Rice Cereal
- 1 1/2 scoop (47g) PEScience Protein Powder, vanilla
- 2 Tbsp (16g) Sugar Free Butterscotch Pudding Mix
- 1/3 C (87g) Creamy Peanut Butter
- 2 Tbsp (42g) Honey
- 1/3 C (81g) Liquid Egg Whites
- 1/4 C (56g) Mini Chocolate Chips
Bake for 15 minutes before removing from the oven to break up and flip on the baking sheet. Bake for an additional 6-10 minutes, shaking every 2-3 minutes until the granola is crispy.
Macros per 1/4 cup: 105 calories, 5g protein, 13g carbs, 4g fat
Pumpkin Spice Granola
- 1 C (80g) Rolled Oats
- 2 C (34g) Puffed Rice Cereal
- 1/4 C (30g) Raw Pumpkin Seeds
- 2 scoops (61g) PEScience Protein Powder, vanilla
- 2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1/4 C (60g) Canned Pumpkin
- 2 Tbsp (42g) Honey
- 1/4 C (56g) Light Butter
Bake at 325ºF for 20 minutes before removing from the oven to flip/shake/stir. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the granola is as crunchy as you'd like.
Macros per 1/4 cup: 100 calories, 6g protein, 11 carbs, 4g fat
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 22 g (1/4 C)Amount Per Serving: Calories: 90Total Fat: 4gCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 5g
Skip to Recipe
Amy Hamilton
Monday 20th of July 2020
5 star rating! The crunch is spot on! This is a weekly staple and so easy to make.
Mayra
Saturday 18th of April 2020
I love this for my yogurt bowls it’s definitely a must try, I didn’t have graham crackers but it still worked great!
Bethany B
Wednesday 15th of April 2020
I love granola - the crunch, the salty to sweet ratio, the add ins... but I have 0 self control with the high sugar, high calorie store bought stuff. I never would buy it or have it until I found this recipe. I followed this recipe to a tee except I used Quest protein powder. I found the puffed rice & Walden Farms Syrup at Fresh Thyme. It has become a staple in my life and I can finally enjoy a guilt free granola!
Dena T
Thursday 16th of April 2020
I hope I’m commenting correctly and not doing a reply again like the first time.
I tried winging my own granola and found that I’m not good at doing that. This recipe has the crunch and the flavor! I did substitute quite a bit since we don’t have some of these ingredients at our local store. I used sugar free pancake syrup, rice crispies, regular butter, and PEScience chocolate pb cup protein. Like usual, I forgot an ingredient, the graham cracker crumbs. I ended up crushing the rice cereal and it still turned out amazing. This will definitely become a staple in my house!
Becca
Wednesday 15th of April 2020
Love this recipe!! I love to add to nonfat yogurt, or grab handfuls for a snack! I sometimes substitute with Special K Cinnamon Brown Sugar Crunch Cereal and it’s amazing!!!
Kathleen
Wednesday 29th of January 2020
Taste, crunch are great! I've used this as topping for oatmeal and yogurt bowls as well as on top of ice cream. Also love the flexibility of this recipe. I used regular butter once when I wanted an option with more fats and added powdered pb for a nutty flavor. All tweaks were great! Thx Mason!