We Rate Granola

This blog is dedicated to the discussion, evaluation, and creation of granola.

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Truly premium.

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Review: Berkeley Bowl Vanilla Almond Granola

Rating: 9/10

Price: $6.99 at Berkeley Bowl

Enjoyed with: Trader Jos Greek yogurt, banana, dried mulberries, dried cherries, dried blueberries, goji berries, brown sugar, and honey

Berkeley Bowl is a famous grocery store in Berkeley, CA. They have an incredible selection of delicious granola. Most notable about the vanilla almond granola is the big chunks it contains. The flavor is somewhat weaker (read: less sugar) compared to other granolas I’ve tried, which led me to mix it with a less potent yogurt than Siggi’s.

It’s also the case that my granola recipes have become increasingly complicated with toppings. Because of this it might be a bit hard to isolate the quality of granola.

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Not necessarily a granola, but have you ever tried overnight oats?

I’m a big fan of overnight oats! I think it can be a bit tricky to keep both the texture and flavor interesting, so here’s the recipe I use:

Overnight: 2 parts oats, 2 parts milk, 1 part yogurt, flaxseeds, vanilla extract, and a banana.

Toppings: granola, dried fruits, honey.

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Review: Purely Elizabeth Apple Cinnamon Pecan Superfood Oats

Rating: 3/10

Cost: $2.49 (at Whole Foods)

I had high expectations for this single-serve item, mostly because it comes from Purely Elizabeth. However, the combination of ingredients paled in comparison to the similarly priced single-serve Vigilant Eats Superfood Cereals, and the apple cinnamon flavor was worse than Quaker’s single-serve oatmeal. While fairly healthy, this didn’t live up the standards of taste that Purely Elizabeth granola had established for me.

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Review: Bear Naked Original Cinnamon Granola

Rating: 7/10

Cost: $4.99 (at Safeway)

Enjoyed with: Siggi’s Vanilla Yogurt, Bananas

This granola, while also tasting fairly stereotypical, is significantly improved by the addition of cranberries and cinnamon. I’d consider it one of the best granolas in the mid-tier price range; while not quite as good as Purely Elizabeth, it is significantly cheaper. While this granola tastes fairly sweet, it’s sugar content is not unusually high.

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Review: KIND Peanut Butter Whole Grain Clusters

Rating: 5/10

Cost: $4.54 (at Whole Foods)

Enjoyed with: Siggi’s Vanilla Yogurt, Bananas

KIND’s peanut butter granola tasted extremely normal. That is, it wasn’t particularly good or bad. I don’t have any major complaints, except that it tasted more like a granola bar and less like a topping. The peanut butter flavor is definitely strong, and it has high protein content as a result, which is a win. But overall this granola was just lacking the personality required for me to buy it again.

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Purchased a single-serve Purely Elizabeth Superfood Oats (Apple Cinnamon Pecan) today as well as a bag of Kind’s Peanut Butter Whole Grain Clusters granola, which was 35% off at Whole Foods.

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Review: Blueberry Steel Cut Oats, Courageous Bakery

Rating: 3/10

Cost: $5.99

Location: Chicago, IL

Courageous Bakery resides in the charming, literary Oak Park neighborhood of Chicago. Every food purchase comes with a bowl of free donut holes (like dinner rolls!) and the bakery produces its own granola in-house. Having previously enjoyed the chicken and waffles at Courageous, I was very excited to try the granola, which came in a bowl with blueberries, oatmeal, honey, cream, and brown sugar.

However, I was sorely disappointed. The granola itself was too salty and too fragmented, often consisting of nothing more than sliced honey-glazed nuts. It was also unusually salty, which was particularly noticeable given the weak flavor of the other ingredients.

Further, the ratio of granola and other toppings to oatmeal was way off. Even though I was careful not to consume too much granola too quickly, I eventually found myself with a half-empty bowl of just oatmeal and cream. What a classic granola mistake!

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Having not tasted granola in nearly a week, my soul seeps from my body, leaving me lifeless and sad.

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Review: Nectar Urban Cantina, Soul Shakedown

Rating: 9/10

Cost: $9.75

Location: Nashville, TN

Not reviewing the granola specifically here, but reviewing a smoothie bowl which contains granola, so I figured it counts. I’ve tried most of Nectar’s smoothie bowls before (except Blue Sky — which is new!), so I knew going in that the Soul Shakedown was my favorite and that I’d enjoy it. It didn’t disappoint!

The bright fuchsia (magenta?) color is immediately striking, and I have to guess this is due to the dragonfruit component of the base. The base alone would be an excellent (although very sweet) smoothie, but the toppings are what really makes this smoothie bowl excel.

Notably, the toppings are layered on quite thick, which is an important quality of a smoothie bowl; often, I find smoothie bowls have too few toppings and reduce to ordinary smoothies before I’m halfway done with them. The granola is also very good, but it’s somewhat difficult to discern individual flavors in the large mix of toppings. One minor complaint is that the smoothie bowl is unusually cold, even as smoothies go, but fortunately it isn’t icy or frosted.

Note: I’ve contacted Nectar to get information about the type of granola they use in smoothie bowls and will update this review if they respond.

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Not granola, but not bad!

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Just tried the same recipe as before (Purely Elizabeth, Blueberries, Bananas) but with thinkThin’s Madagascar Vanilla, Almonds, Pecans oatmeal instead of Siggi’s Vanilla Icelandic Skyr.

While I normally love mixing oatmeal and granola, and while I’ve enjoyed thinkThin oatmeal in the past, the combination of flavors just wasn’t there, and this doesn’t even compare with the Siggi’s recipe posted yesterday.

5/10

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Review: Purely Elizabeth, Maple Walnut Probiotic Granola

Rating: 8/10

Cost: $6.49 (at Kroger)

Enjoyed with: Siggi’s Vanilla Yogurt, Blueberries, Bananas

For my very first review, I started with Purely Elizabeth’s maple walnut flavor. It’s marketed for its health benefits, being non-GMO, gluten-free, and probiotic. The sugar content isn’t too bad either, at 5g per serving. These weren’t crucial factors for me, so I was glad the granola didn’t *taste* especially healthy. I do think the health appeal made it more expensive, though; at $6.49 for an 8oz bag, this granola was definitely outside my usual price range.

The granola had a strong taste, which I think is mostly due to the maple walnut flavoring. This made it combine nicely with the Siggi’s Icelandic Skyr, which I’ve often felt has an overpoweringly tangy flavor. The maple walnut flavor also blended very well with the banana slices, and it was alright with blueberries, too.

Lastly, the granola was divided into big chunks which are difficult to break apart. I know some people who don’t like this chunkiness as a feature of granola, but I think it’s fun and positively contributes to the overall granola experience.

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Purchased a bag of Purely Elizabeth granola! Review is coming soon!!