10 Ways To Elevate Store-Bought Granola
If you have ever considered switching up your breakfast game from the same old boring bowl of cereal, you may have considered trying granola. Homemade granola recipes abound on the internet, but for convenience's sake, many turn to their local grocery store for the store-bought variety instead. It has led to many brands coming up with a number of different flavors over the years, catering to every palate and preference. And while not all granola is made the same from a health perspective, it is ultimately an easy and filling breakfast idea that can also be enjoyed as a snack any time of day.
But, over time, any of our favorite foods can get a bit boring after eating them the same way year after year. Perhaps you are starting to look at the granola aisle with disdain. Surely, there must be some way to jazz up your usual go-to breakfast, right? Luckily, you are on to something. There are actually many different ways to elevate store-bought granola, from mixing in different ingredients that perhaps you never considered before to completely transforming the granola itself to be used in different recipes. Once you go through this list, you may never look at granola the same way again, and you may even find yourself grabbing an extra bag or two on your next grocery run to try these methods out.
1. Layer it into a yogurt parfait
Perhaps the simplest way to elevate your store-bought granola is to layer it with yogurt and fresh fruit to make a parfait. Whether you keep it simple and toss everything into a bowl for breakfast or you go the extra mile to layer the components into a mason jar, parfait is a quick and easy morning or afternoon snack idea. If you go the mason jar route, it can travel easily to work or school, or you can make it ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator. That way, there is no need to think of an elaborate breakfast during your otherwise busy mornings.
Granola provides a lovely crunch to a bowl of yogurt, complimenting the texture well. You can totally play things up by experimenting with different flavors of yogurt and different fruits to see which ones go best. If you buy vanilla and almond granola, for example, you may want to opt for plain Greek yogurt with some banana. Or, if you enjoy chocolate granola, it may pair wonderfully with vanilla yogurt. The combinations are seemingly endless, so give it a try and you may find a new, healthier breakfast option for your family.
2. Add dried fruit or other ingredients to make trail mix
Most store-bought granola packages come with just the granola clusters and the occasional addition of a few nuts such as almonds. It is a perfectly fine snack on its own, but granola can also serve as the base for a tasty trail mix. Adding in other ingredients like dried fruits can boost the health benefits of your trail mix — just make sure you are using a dehydrator at home to avoid purchasing pre-packaged dry fruit, which can often come with added ingredients.
Other great additions to your granola when building an at-home trail mix include nuts such as cashews, walnuts, peanuts, and almonds. If you have a sweet tooth, adding semi-sweet chocolate or small chocolate candies will add some variety to the flavor profile of your trail mix. You can even make a large batch of it and store it in an air-tight container so you have an easy snack to munch on throughout the week. It all starts with a foundation of granola that you can pick up at the grocery store.
3. Use as a topping on ice cream
A lot of granola fans are probably familiar with the concept of sprinkling some on top of their yogurt in the morning for an easy and healthy breakfast idea. But granola can serve many more purposes than that, and it can be used as a topper for a variety of other snacks to provide a unique flavor and an extra bit of crunch. For example, if you have not tried granola on top of a bowl of ice cream, you may be missing out.
Crunchy toppings are some of the best toppings for ice cream, given its soft texture. It is no wonder why sprinkles are as popular as they are at ice cream shops around the country. Some saltier toppings like popcorn and even bacon bits make a great addition to your frozen dessert, and granola would work great as well. Depending on the kind of granola you purchase, it may lend itself better to certain ice cream flavors over others. Experiment with different combinations as you go through your ice cream stash in your freezer to find out what works best.
4. Bake with cookies, cake, or muffins
Many of the ways you can elevate your store-bought granola involve incorporating it as a topping or a tossed ingredient in your daily snacks. In addition, granola can be elevated in an entirely different way that involves incorporating the ingredients so that it does not resemble a simple bowl of store-bought granola whatsoever. By thinking outside of the box, you will soon discover that granola serves as a great ingredient when baking your favorite batch of cookies, muffins, or even cake.
Granola can be mixed into your favorite baking mixture, similar to making oatmeal cookies using oats as a component in your dough. Granola can also be incorporated as a topping for your breakfast muffins, just like in this recipe for roasted rhubarb muffins with granola crunch. If you want to keep the baking process as easy as possible, granola can simply be added at the end. For example, granola could make a great topper for a cake. The ingredient can be incorporated as much or as little as you would like, and there are several opportunities in the baking process where you could add them in.
5. Substitute breadcrumbs with granola
A lot of shoppers will look at a bag of store-bought granola and think of it solely as a breakfast ingredient. But it turns out granola can be quite versatile and can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. Not only is granola a great topping or a great ingredient for your bag of trail mix, but it can also serve as a gluten-free alternative to a pantry staple: Breadcrumbs.
Many granola packages are gluten-free, given that the main component, oats, is a gluten-free food. Just be sure to double-check the packaging, as not all granola is going to be gluten-free depending on what other ingredients are added in. Whether you want to substitute breadcrumbs for health reasons or you want a different spin on your go-to dinner recipe, you can absolutely do so with granola. Just whip out your food processor and grind the granola down so it is a very fine texture, similar to that of breadcrumbs. Then, measure out the granola as you would breadcrumb and add it to your favorite dinner, whether that is meatloaf, chicken cutlets, or pasta.
6. Garnish over soups and salad
Your lunch and dinner recipes do not need as many advanced-level culinary skills as you may think to bring them to the next level. Oftentimes, we think that in order to add that wow factor to our food, we need to have fancy kitchen tools or rare ingredients to give our meals that restaurant-quality taste. But all you really need is your imagination and your willingness to try new recipes in order to discover new and delicious enhancements to your favorite foods.
It may seem like there are only so many ways to elevate a bowl of soup or salad, but before you go about eating them the same old way, open up your pantry and grab your package of store-bought granola. It can give both dishes a wonderful crunch, whether it is used as a crouton-esque garnish in a bowl of soup or bisque or a sprinkled topping for your salad. After all, nuts such as walnuts are already a popular salad topping for a nice crunch as well as to make your salad more filling. Much store-bought granola has a similar flavor profile, so toss some into a salad bowl the next time you want to whip up a healthy lunch.
7. Make homemade granola bars
Store-bought granola is in many instances perfectly fine as you purchase it, and can be used in a variety of ways as previously discussed. The ingredient does not need to be transformed much, if at all, to elevate your favorite bowl of yogurt, for example. But granola can also be shaped and molded into a different snack entirely, such as a granola bar. The easy-to-eat handheld snack can be made at home with just a few ingredients, and if you have store-bought granola, you are already part of the way there.
Some of the other ingredients you will want to have on hand to make granola bars at home include honey, dry milk, cinnamon, and rice cereal. But once you have all of the ingredients assembled, making the granola bars is as easy as combining the components together before hand-forming and baking in the oven. They freeze well, so you can make them in large batches and enjoy them for a long time.
8. Mix with chocolate for some crunchy chocolate bark
Another easy-to-make healthy snack that requires only a few ingredients is chocolate bark. Many people are familiar with peppermint bark around the holiday season, but chocolate bark is a tasty treat that can be enjoyed all year long. And, since chocolate pairs so well with a variety of nuts and oats, mixing granola into your recipe is a piece of cake.
You will want to make sure that the granola is broken up into small enough pieces so that it does not weigh the chocolate bark down, which could cause it to break apart. If you have large granola clusters in your bag, you can easily break them apart using a rolling pin. Then, mix the granola along with any other ingredients you want to include together and sprinkle on top of a baking sheet that has already been coated with pre-melted chocolate. Allow the bark to cool and it is ready to eat. It can serve as a healthy snack at home, or an artsy treat to package and give as a gift to a friend.
9. Send through the food processor to use as a pie crust
When you buy store-bought granola, it usually comes with large clusters, and many include added ingredients like almonds. This is great for sprinkling on top of yogurt but can be cumbersome if you are using granola as an ingredient for baking. In those instances, it is best to break apart those larger pieces, and in some cases, use a food processor to grind it down to a much more fine consistency.
Once you use your food processor on granola, you will find that it can be used in a number of different ways, especially when baking. In fact, the consistency of finely-ground granola lends itself perfectly to being used as a pie crust. And since many different kinds of granola are gluten-free, it makes for a base for a great gluten-free pie. You may even find that your recipe can skip the baking step entirely. And who doesn't love a pie, or any traditionally baked good, that does not require any baking?
10. Combine with peanut butter in sandwiches or as a stand-alone snack
Granola is the kind of food that blends well with all kinds of other flavors, making it a versatile snack. It pairs with other hearty ingredients to make a trail mix, but it also goes perfectly with yogurt and fresh fruit for a parfait. But one of the ingredients granola probably goes best with is peanut butter. This pantry staple is one of the most universally loved flavors with its own long list of uses, from sandwiches to candies. If you have a bag of store-bought granola and a tub of peanut butter in your cabinet, then you have the makings of some truly elevated snacks.
For a lunch with some real crunch, layer some granola into your peanut butter sandwich. Or, drizzle some peanut butter on top of your granola for a stand-alone snack. You can even combine granola and peanut butter for some tasty peanut butter balls. You will find that granola and peanut butter is a flavor and texture marriage made in foodie heaven, and you may soon find that you cannot imagine one ingredient without the other.