When it starts to warm up outside, a steaming hot bowl of morning oatmeal no longer holds its usual appeal. Enter muesli, my new favorite way to start the day. There’s no need to buy it premade, since the tasty combination of ingredients is simple to put together. Lightly toasted whole grains are mixed with dried fruit, roasted nuts, and just a hint of spice. Unlike granola, there’s no added sweetener — you can add a drizzle of honey or agave syrup at the table if you like.
I decided to make this last week, when I was writing up a post for The Kitchn on how to use up dried fruit in warm weather-friendly recipes. Perusing the site’s dried fruit recipes, I happened upon Megan Gordon’s Hazelnut Cherry Museli, which looked so good I bookmarked it instantly. I wanted to make good on my intention to use up the dried fruit in my own pantry, however, and I didn’t have any dried cherries around. What I did have was a large bag of raisins, which were a great substitute.
I made a few more tweaks, so many in fact that this ended up being an entirely different recipe than Megan’s. Oat bran subbed for wheat bran (again, it was what I happened to have in the pantry), and instead of buying separate packages of rolled oats and rye flakes, I picked up a canister of Organic Multi-Grain Hot Cereal at Trader Joe’s. It’s a mixture of rolled rye, barley, oats, and wheat — it looks and acts (and quacks?) like old fashioned rolled oats, but boasts a complex and tasty blend of whole grain flavors. Oh, and I added walnuts, because I had those on hand too.
Since I deviated so much from the recipe I set out to make, I can hardly expect you to follow mine! Feel free to use regular rolled oats if you can’t find a multi-grain version, and add any varieties of bran, nuts, and dried fruit that you prefer. Spice your muesli simply with cinnamon, or bump it up with nutmeg and cardamom, too. Serve it plainly (I’ve been enjoying mine with almond milk), or add grated or chopped fresh fruit. Most importantly, enjoy!
Multi-Grain Muesli with Nuts and Raisins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Organic Multigrain Hot Cereal a mixture of rolled rye, barley, oats and wheat
- 1/4 cup oat bran
- 1/2 cup roasted unsalted hazelnuts
- 1/4 cup roasted unsalted pumpkin seeds a.k.a. pepitas
- 1/2 cup walnut halves coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread out the hot cereal flakes and oat bran on the baking sheet in an even layer and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the baked cereal and bran with the hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon. Toss to mix everything evenly, then store in an air-tight container for up to a month.
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