Simply Delicious Toasted Muesli
Finn recently had to design a survey, collect the data and represent it in a bar graph for his Maths homework. He chose to ask ‘what is your favourite meal of the day?’ He asked his friends, his Dad’s colleagues, family members and other Mums – I would say it was a fair cross section of the population and…drumroll please… breakfast was crowned the winner (with brunch coming in a close second).* So although it seems that breakfast is a bit of a favourite, how often do you open the pantry or fridge in the morning and feel uninspired? It’s a quick meal by necessity of the time of day and it needs to satisfy for the day ahead. Since finding this muesli recipe about 10 years ago I have forgone supermarket cereals in favour of this simple, tasty and (somewhat) healthy start to my day.
The original recipe has a few more ingredients including dried blueberries (which I could never find) and coconut flakes (which similarly I can not always find). So this is my pared back version. The great thing about making your own muesli is you can add whichever extra little bits you like. Make a batch of this simple muesli and then let family members choose their toppings – extra nuts, dried or fresh fruits or coconut. I have also doubled the quantities so that we only have to make this muesli once a week.
I like to eat it with some whole yoghurt and a splash of milk.
SIMPLY DELICIOUS TOASTED MUESLI
Recipe adapted from Bill’s Open Kitchen
6 cups of rolled oats
1 cup apple juice
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped
1 cup raw cashews
2 cups sunflower seeds
½ cup pumpkin seeds
¼ cup sesame seeds
Preheat oven to 160°C. Place all ingredients (except the cashews) in a large deep baking dish and stir to evenly coat in the juice and oil. Bake in the oven (periodically turn the muesli over while it is cooking so that it toasts evenly) until golden and crisp. (I have found over time that to get the muesli perfectly crisp without burning is a matter of keeping an eye on the almonds - once you see their white insides have browned, it’s time to take it out of the oven).
In a separate baking dish, toast the cashews. They will take less time than the rest of the muesli so it makes sense to separate them out - otherwise you will have some seriously bitter burnt nuts. Add them to the toasted muesli before storing.
That’s it! So easy. Keep stored in the pantry in an air tight container.
* For those of you interested, lunch came in last. Who’s going to vote for lunch? Lunch is always a pain in the neck unless there are leftovers in the fridge.
