Good Day Sunshine

I hardly ever buy ready-made muesli any more, as I find a lot of them have a lot of added sugar (regular Alpen being the worst culprit) or are just a bit boring (I quite like the Dorset Cereals range but they are very expensive).  Not what you want from a “health food”.

Lucky then that making your own muesli is very easy – just remember the old Lucky Strike slogan, “it’s toasted” and you won’t go far wrong!  I can’t remember where I originally saw this recipe (probably the result of internet surfing) but think of it as a blueprint for your own tastes or whatever you’ve got in the cupboard.  It’s great for using up whatever little amounts of nuts and dried fruits you’ve got left over, especially after a Christmas baking session.  Sultanas and raisins are fine as dried fruit additions but don’t limit yourself to those – for instance, dates are great for adding sweetness.  I promise you, you will not need to add any sugar.  Some of my favourite combinations include:

• Superfood: dried apricots (snipped into pieces), dried blueberries and toasted walnuts.
• Tropical: dried pineapple and mango (chopped), dried banana chips and a little toasted dessicated coconut.
• What I call Naughty Muesli (strictly a once a year Christmas breakfast treat): toasted almonds, chopped dried sour cherries and chopped dark chocolate.

Some nuts are suitable for toasting (almonds, hazelnuts, unsalted peanuts, pecans, coconut and walnuts), others will just go soft due to their high fat content (macadamias, brazils and pistachios) and are better added raw to the cooled muesli along with the dried fruits.  You will probably need to get the barley flakes and wheatgerm from a health food shop (Holland & Barrett stock both) but once you’ve got them, a little goes a long way.  This muesli is very cheap to make and keeps well (store in an airtight container).

200g porridge oats

75g barley flakes

25g wheatgerm

50g chopped nuts

50g chopped dried fruits of your choice.

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C/Gas Mark 3.
2. Mix the porridge oats, barley flakes, wheatgerm and chopped nuts together and pour into a large roasting tin.  Bake for around 15 minutes until the mixture is golden and lightly toasted – give it a stir with a spatula halfway through and do keep an eye on it as nuts burn very easily.
3. Leave the mixture to cool and then stir in the dried fruits before transferring the muesli to an airtight container.  Serve with milk, yogurt or fruit juice.

Muesli with apricot, cranberry, almond, coconut and fig