Muesli

 

I love granola,  but while it packs a nutritional punch, it is chock full of sugars and calorie dense.  Fine to bring on a 10 mile hike or eat on occasion but not a dietary staple.  Muesli on the other hand and can be a substitute for store-bought sugar-laden, highly processed cereal.  This muesli is adapted and modified significantly from several recipes on the web and is made with oats, nuts, coconut and dried fruit. It is highly adaptable to what you have in your pantry and contains no added sugars and oils.  However, oats and dried fruit have carbs (including simple sugars) and the coconut and nuts are full of good fats.

 

 

Ingredients

3.5 cups of rolled oats (do not substitute steel cut oats)

1.5 cups of nuts (I used raw pepitas, pecans, walnuts, broken into largish pieces)

1 cup dried fruit (I used raisins)

1/2 cup desiccated unsweetened coconut. (optional)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt (optional)

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325˚F.
2. Line two jelly roll pans with aluminum oil.
3. Mix and evenly spread the oats, cinnamon and salt on one pan and the nuts on the other.  Its better to put the oats on top and the nuts on the bottom in the oven.
4. Bake 7-10 min.   Use your nose and eyes here since both can quickly go from roasted to burnt in no time.  Start checking their doneness at 4-5 min or when you get a nutty aroma from both the oats and the nuts.  (Other recipes suggest a 350˚F oven temperature and 10-20 min baking period, but this did not work for me)
5. In a large bowl, mix the oats and nuts together, then add the the coconut while the Muesli is still warm.  Cool, then add the raisins or other dried fruit.  When completely cool, store in an airtight container at room temperature.
6. Eat as is or with fruit and milk or yogurt.