You certainly can take the stuff in the jar and grind it to a powder. The issue is, store bought dry herbs lose their flavor pretty quickly after the seal is broken, even in a tightly closed jar. The freshest dry basil will be that which you recently, last 3 months, dried yourself. I HATE the taste of dry basil so I keep a good bit of fresh basil frozen. It is not too good for Pesto as it gets dark after freezing but for every other use there is zero difference in taste between fresh and frozen. I your case, you can freeze a bunch of basil and a couple days out, pull a handful, dry it on the counter and grind to the desired size...No matter what the recipe, you have a fresh tasting product...JJ