Change up your breakfast with these cherry berry granola pots. Layers of crunchy granola, fresh cherries and creamy yoghurt combine to create a delectable symphony of flavours, colours and textures that delight the senses with every spoonful. Easy yet exquisite.
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One of my favourite summer breakfasts is fruit, granola and natural yoghurt. I tend to bung it all in a bowl and dig in. But when I attended a White’s Oats event some time ago, I realised how much better it tastes when layered attractively in a glass and eaten with a long spoon.
Call it granola parfait, granola cup or granola pot, it’s an easy yet exquisite way to serve what is otherwise a fairly ordinary breakfast. I have a similar, but slightly different, recipe for raspberry granola parfait.
Serve these cherry granola pots for a special occasion, the weekend or when you have guests staying over.
Dive Right In
- Why Make Cherry Granola Pots?
- Cherries
- Pitting Cherries
- Ingredients
- Cherry Berry Granola Pots
- Make Them Your Own
- Other Cherry Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- The Recipe
Why Make Cherry Granola Pots?
Apart from making your breakfast granola a bit more special, there are a whole heap of reasons why you might want to make these cherry berry granola pots.
- Adaptable – It’s super easy to personalise your cherry granola pots by swapping ingredients or adding additional ones to suit your taste preferences and dietary needs. For example, go vegan with a plant-based yoghurt, opt for a gluten-free or nut-free granola or dust a little cinnamon in for added flavour. See the section on make them your own further down the post.
- Delicious – Cherry granola pots combine the natural sweetness of cherries with creamy yoghurt and the crunchy texture of your favourite granola. The combination of flavours, colours and textures makes for a delightful and satisfying breakfast, snack or even dessert option.
- Energy Boost – Granola is usually made with oats, which are a good source of complex carbohydrates. It thus provides a steady release of energy. Combine this with cherries, which are a good source of natural sugars and protein-rich yoghurt and cherry granola pots can give a sustained energy boost. This makes them an excellent choice for physically active people or as a pre or post workout snack.
- Nutritious – Cherries are rich in fibre and a variety of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. They’re known for their anti-inflammatory properties and likely provide numerous other health benefits. When combined with the probiotic qualities of yoghurt and granola, which often contains whole grains, nuts and seeds, cherry granola pots provides a nutritious and balanced meal or snack.
- Quick & Convenient – Cherry granola pots are easy to prepare and require no cooking. They take all of five minutes to put together. Apart from the cherries, you’ll most likely have the ingredients you need to hand. That is to say, yoghurt and granola.
- Satisfying – The combination of fibre, healthy fats, and protein in granola and yoghurt can help promote feelings of fullness and satiety. Add cherries to the mix and you further enhance the nutritional profile. They also add volume to the pots, making them a satisfying and filling option which helps to curb cravings and prevent overeating. Or that’s the theory anyway.
Cherries
Cherries (Prunus avium and Prunus cerasus) are small, round fruits that belong to the Rosaceae family. They’re known for their sweet and tart flavours, which makes them popular as both a snack and a recipe ingredient. They come in many colours and sizes and, perhaps not surprisingly, don’t all taste the same either.
Sweet black bing, sour dark red morello and sweet yellow rainier are just some of the cherry types you can buy. If you grow your own you can get some particularly delicious varieties. I have never yet had a cherry straight off the tree, but it’s something I’m very keen to try.
It doesn’t really matter what type or colour you use as long as they’re sweet ones and not sour. Sour cherries are excellent for making jam and cooking with, but not so good for eating just as they are.
British cherries have a short season. They’re at their best in July, but you can usually find them in both June and August.
Cherries are highly nutritious and come packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants They have many health benefits and are said to be good for reducing inflammation, reducing muscle soreness, improving heart health and promoting good sleep. (Ref: Healthline and BBC)
Pitting Cherries
The one thing about cherries is that unless you’re eating them straight off the stem, you need to pit them first. If you haven’t come across the term pit before, it just means the stone or kernel inside the cherry. It’s very hard and is a hazard to teeth if you don’t know its there. So it’s best to remove them before using them in recipes.
These hard little pits are in fact the shells that surround the cherry seeds and protect them. The seeds themselves are potentially poisonous and shouldn’t be eaten raw.
Before you start to pit the cherries you’ll need to pull the stems off first. That’s the easy bit and takes virtually no time at all.
You can try and cut the pits out with a knife, but this is very time consuming and messy. The best and easiest way to remove them is with a dedicated cherry pitter*. I have one with a splatter guard on it which keeps flying juice to a minimum. It’s really easy to use.
If you don’t have a cherry pitter, you can poke them out with a reusable straw or a chopstick. The best way to do this is to place the cherry on top of a bottle. Push the straw or chopstick down through the middle of the cherry and the bottle catches the stone and any associated juice splatter.
Cherry Berry Granola Pots
These cherry berry granola pots aren’t really a recipe, they’re more of an assembly job. It’s what I did just for me one morning. Now, however, I make it on a regular basis when British cherries are in season.
CT and any overnight guests who happen to be staying get some too. You can multiply the quantities as needed.
You just create layers of granola, yoghurt and cherries in a glass then eat with a small spoon and savour the mixture as you go. I like to sit out in the garden on fine mornings and enjoy mine there. I like to make it in a tall glass so that you get three layers of each ingredient, which I think looks rather grand.
These cherry granola pots are best made shortly before serving so that the granola doesn’t go soggy. However, by all means prep the cherries the night before, if this makes things easier. Just keep them in a covered container in the fridge.
Cherry Granola Pots Ingredients
You only need three simple ingredients to make cherry granola cups. If you fancy something slightly sweeter or for an added swirl of luxury, drizzle some maple syrup over the top.
Better still, make some of my rose syrup and use that instead. It goes really well with cherries. Agave, date syrup or even honey, if you’re not vegan, are other good options.
Fresh Cherries
You want the freshest, sweetest cherries you can find for these cherry granola pots. See the cherry section further up the post for more on this.
Granola
Use whatever granola you have to hand, homemade or shop bought. I usually go with my own homemade granola for which I have three different recipes on Tin and Thyme.
Natural Yoghurt
Creamy yoghurt is a must. I prefer using natural yoghurt to flavoured ones in these cherry granola pots. It gives a clearer, fresher foil to all the other flavours going on. It also mixes with the cherry juice in parts, creating enticing swirls of pink.
Either ordinary natural yoghurt or Greek yoghurt are good. Plant-based or lactose-free yoghurts are fine too.
Make These Cherry Granola Pots Your Own
Cherry granola pots serve as a lovely dessert as well as a special breakfast. They make an excellent snack too. For extra pizzaz, especially if your cherries or granola aren’t particularly sweet, add a drizzle of maple syrup or similar. I often use my homemade rose syrup, which goes particularly well with cherries.
Make your own granola so you can add in the flavours and ingredients that you either like or that work well with cherries. Preferably both. My chocolate granola pairs well with cherries, creating some sort of breakfast Black Forest effect.
Other flavours that go well with cherries are cinnamon, vanilla and citrus. Almonds are another good ingredient and they give a delightful crunch when you bite into their toasted deliciousness. And why not add in some dried sour cherries for both contrast and textural diversity?
As a dessert, you can make it rather more indulgent by mixing some whipped double cream into the yoghurt before assembling.
Other Cherry Recipes You Might Like
- Berry & rose kefir smoothie
- Black forest clafoutis
- Black forest trifle
- Cherry jam
- Easy pickled cherries
- Very cherry cream dessert
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these cherry berry granola pots, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or advice for easy but delicious breakfasts?
Please rate the recipe. If you post pictures of your creations on social media, use the hashtag #tinandthyme so I can see them.
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If you’d like more breakfast recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Cherry Granola Pots: Breakfast Or Dessert
Equipment
- cherry pitter (affiliate link) optional
Ingredients
- 50 g granola
- 8 fresh cherries ripe and juicy
- 3 tbsp natural yoghurt (my favourite is Yeo Valley organic)
- 1-3 tsp maple syrup (optional)
Instructions
- Remove the stones from 7 of the cherries and then cut into quarters. Keep the remaining one whole, preferably with its stalk to decorate the top. A cherry pitter is the easiest option for this. However, you can poke a reusable straw or chopstick through the cherries and remove the pits that way.
- Layer the ingredients into a glass starting with the granola, followed by cherries then yoghurt. Repeat two or three times depending on the shape of your glass. I used a tall slim glass to make three tiers, a shorter wider one will give you two.50 g granola, 3 tbsp natural yoghurt
- Depending on how sweet your granola is, you might like to drizzle some maple syrup over the top. Date, agave or coconut blossom syrup are all good too, as is honey if you're not vegan. I sometimes use my homemade rose syrup as it goes so well with cherries.1-3 tsp maple syrup
- Top with the remaining whole cherry and serve.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
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andrea says
the cherry and granola combo is soooo good! love how sweet and satisfying it turned out!
Choclette says
Glad you liked the cherry granola pots Andrea. It’s a good combination for sure.
Katie says
These cherry berry granola cups are the ultimate healthy breakfast or quick and easy dessert! I seriously can’t get enough of these.
Choclette says
Super simple, but granola pots are greater than the sum of their parts. It’s good to hear you’re enjoying them.
Erin says
This Cherry Granola Pots recipe is so yummy! I used vegan yogurt with very good results!
Choclette says
Thanks for the feedback. It’s very simple, barely a recipe, but very good nonetheless and not the most obvious thing to do with cherries.
Mary says
This is a dish that I would usually have for either breakfast or lunch in the summer months. I think most berries would be nice but my choice is either blueberries or strawberries with homemade granola.
We are on the same page today!! :)))
Choclette says
Absolutely yes to strawberries Mary. Blueberries are good, but they’re not my favourite. Cherries have such a short season though, I find them they’re a real treat.