Recently I’ve been seeing headlines around about how store bought cereal isn’t healthy. Surprise surprise! Now really, dismiss the advertising, step back and give the sugary treats a taste, read the mile-long ingredients list and make your decision about whether or not this food is good for you. Now that said, sometimes you just need a little sweet pick-me-up for breakfast, think brown sugar on your porridge, honey and ricotta on toast, or home made toasted muesli.
I’ve been making my own combination of cereal for breakfast (or afternoon tea) for an age, and highly recommend processed bran with plump juicy sultana and plenty of cold milk (full cream, of course!), or rolled oats with yoghurt and banana. I’ve fallen for home made bircher muesli, and more recently, homemade toasted muesli. Now, this isn’t as guilt-free as the bircher, but it is natural, tasty and texturally fulfilling. I eat this with vita brits, banana, homemade yoghurt (I am still figuring out the formula, the yoghurt in the first picture separated, so I drained it and it turned into yoghurt cheese!) and milk, so the full amount of this recipe lasted over two weeks.
Plus, it is incredibly easy to make and the ingredients are cheap to buy so next time you’re in the cereal section of the supermarket, ignore the brightly coloured boxes (shiny!) and look on the lower shelves for rolled oats, then come home and turn them into a tasty breakfast treat.
Homemade Toasted Muesli (or Granola, if that’s the way you roll)
This is a very basic recipe, you can add and remove at will. Experiment. This makes quite a dry and fine toasted museli. If you want clumps then add more liquid and be careful when you stir it.
5 cups rolled oats (not the quick-cook kind)
1 cup pepitas
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup flaked almonds
1 cup coconut (damn, what is that coconut called? It isn’t desiccated, its… ? God I don’t know, just look at the picture above, use the coconut that looks like that)
2T sesame seeds
2 cups sultanas
handful of dates, sliced
3T unflavoured oil – I used grapeseed oil.
80g honey
Heat oven to 160C. Line two baking trays and set aside.
Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Heat oil and honey together until melted, then stir into the dry ingredients mixing well. Spread evenly over the two trays, the mixture should be quite thick, and pushed out to the edges.
Place in oven and bake for about 30 mins, stirring regularly to prevent burning. You want to get the ingredients browned, and for the fruit to become chewy. When the mixture is browned to your liking remove from oven and cool completely before storing in an air tight container.
6 Comments
I love home made toasted museli, especially the day after you make it. The fresh crunch and fragrance of the ingredients the day after is unmatched with anything from the supermarket.
I’ve often made this as a way to give new life to untoasted museli that’s starting to get long in the tooth or if there are nuts or dried fruits that I’m looking to get rid of. Works well with butter and brown sugar but yours would be a much healthier and no less tastier option
Mmmm, maybe I should toast my next batch of muesli, it sounds lovely when you mention the dried fruit getting chewy. I like the way you’ve added dates as well as sultanas.
Arwen from Hoglet K’s last blog post..Butterless Fruit Loaf
I have been making my own granola once a week for nearly a year now and would never go back to store-bought cereal. I also love that you can add all the ingredients you like, and my list reads very similar to yours!
Lisa’s last blog post..Rosy Red
Simon: What a great idea to toast regular untoasted muesli. Agreed that homemade is way tastier than store bought, and you know what goes in, too.
Arwen: I just had some dates lying around, and i guess you can really put anything in – very flexible. It is very easy and i love the chewiness of the dried fruit.
Lisa: How great is it to be able to make it yourself
It’s called SHREDDED coconut. thanks for the giggle in the ingredients list
Oh, this totally reminds me of the musli my mom used to make. Looks yummy!
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[...] I’ve seen quite a few homemade cereal posts in my clickings, the most recent of which was here. The ingredients are quite different from mine, but the concept is so very basic and I love [...]
[...] Toasted muesli, bircher muesli and now Banana Toasted Muesli. I actually think that this latest addition to my breakfast repertoire might be my favourite. It is unusual, unbelievably healthy (for toasted muesli) and wonderfully clumpy. Though it smells like a a banana cake while it is baking, the banana just adds an ethereal sweetness to the finished product. As usual with this kind of a dish, add whatever dried fruit and nuts you’d like. I was in the midst of project ‘clear cupboards out’ when I made this, and added some excess cashews, sunflower seeds and sultanas that I had lying around. The cashews had a great texture when cooked, perhaps I should buy some more just to make this toasted muesli again. [...]