How to Make Muesli

Making a Basic Muesli

Pour 4 cups (560g) of grains into a large bowl. Grains will make up the base of your muesli, so should be the first ingredient in a basic recipe. Start by putting 4 cups (560g) of your grain of choice in a large bowl or container. If you’re using oats, make sure that you use rolled oats and not quick-cooking grains which will be highly processed. Any rolled grain will work great for a muesli base. Try rolled oats, barley, rye, spelt, or rice in whatever ratio you think tastes best! Muesli is made to be customized.

Add 1 cup (120g) of chopped nuts to the grains. Nuts give your muesli a delicious crunch, as well as adding a boost of omega-3 fatty acids and protein to start the day. Add 1 cup (120g) of whatever kind of chopped nuts you prefer to the grains. Walnuts, almonds, pecans, Brazil nuts, macadamias, pistachios, cashews, peanuts, and hazelnuts are all great choices for muesli ingredients. Choose any combination that you like to add to your muesli. If you’re allergic to nuts or just don’t like them, try adding coconut flakes, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds or any other type of seed you like for a similar flavor and crunch.

Mix in 1 cup (150g) of dried fruit. Dried fruit adds some sweetness to your muesli, as well as adding some chewiness to offset the crunch of the nuts or seeds. Chop up your dried fruit or fruits of choice and add 1 cup (150g) to the grains and nuts. Dates, raisins, dehydrated berries, or even dried mango or papaya pieces all make great additions to muesli. Choose fruits that you like and try different combinations until you find the perfect recipe. Try to find dried fruits without added sugar. As none of the other ingredients are particularly sweet, the fruit should add enough sweetness without relying on more sugar. Only add dried fruit to your muesli recipe, as fresh fruit in it will soften your muesli and make it turn bad much more quickly. If you want to add fresh fruit, do so just before you eat it.

Combine all of your ingredients. Use a wooden spoon or something similar to thoroughly combine all parts of your muesli. Try to mix it together well enough so that everything is evenly distributed, and every bite of muesli will have a little bit of everything. If you’re making the muesli in a container, just put the lid on and shake it up until everything is combined.

Store the muesli in an airtight container. As long as muesli stays dry, it can last up to 2 months in your cupboard. Transfer your muesli to an airtight glass jar or plastic container and keep it in a cool, dry place until it’s time to dig in.

Serve your muesli with milk or yogurt. There are plenty of different ways to eat muesli, but the most traditional is with milk or yogurt. Scoop ½ a cup of your muesli into a bowl and top it off with milk or yogurt. If you want to soften up the grains a little, leave your muesli to sit for 10 minutes to half an hour before eating. If you don’t want to wait before eating breakfast in the morning, you can soak your muesli in milk overnight. Combine ½ a cup of muesli with ½ a cup of milk in a small lidded glass jar, and store in the fridge overnight. If it’s too cold out for muesli with milk straight out of the refrigerator, try heating your muesli up in the microwave before serving and eat it like oatmeal.

Customising Your Muesli

Play with the ingredients. The ratio of 4 cups of grains to 1 cup each of nuts and dried fruit will make a great muesli, but it might not be the perfect muesli for you. Try changing up the ratios and altering the ingredients until you find your perfect combination. If you’ve got a sweet tooth or like your muesli to be chewy, increase the amount of dried fruit you put into your muesli. Replace ½ a cup (60g) of nuts with an extra ½ cup (75g) of dried fruit for an extra fruity kick. If you’d prefer a little more crunch and don't need as much sweetness, add more nuts. Replace ½ a cup (75g) of dried fruit with the same amount of nuts for a super crunchy breakfast.

Toast the grains and nuts together. Before adding the fruit, pour the grains and nuts into a dry frying pan and toast them over a medium heat. This will add a little extra crunch to the grains, as well as bring out the oils in the nuts and make them more flavorful. Don’t add oil or any other liquid to the pan when toasting your grains and nuts. Toasting the nuts release their oils, so anything added will make your muesli taste a little greasy. You can also roast grains and nuts in a hot oven. Place a piece of parchment paper over a baking tray with sides and scatter the nuts and grains in a single layer over top. Cook for 10-12 minutes at 350 °F (177 °C), shaking the tray every few minutes to keep them from burning.

Add some warming spices. If you want to add a little more flavor to your basic muesli, try mixing in 1 or 2 pinches of your favorite spices. A little bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, cloves or anything similar can add some delicious depth to your muesli recipes. As always, don’t be afraid to experiment. Try mixing and matching different fruits, nuts, and grains with different combinations of spices.

Store your muesli with a vanilla pod. If you like the flavor of vanilla, add it with a vanilla pod rather than adding moisture with vanilla essence. Keep 1 or 2 vanilla pods in the container you store your muesli in and the flavor will infuse with the muesli over time. Make sure to take the vanilla pod out of your bowl and put it back in the container if you scoop it out while serving your muesli. Try other whole spices to add different flavors to the muesli. Store a cinnamon stick, or a few whole cloves with your muesli to infuse different flavors.

Making Bircher Muesli

Combine the oats and dried fruit in a bowl. Pour 1/4 cup (35g) of rolled oats into a small mixing bowl. Add to it around 1 tablespoon (12.5g) of chopped dried apricots. Stir the mixture thoroughly to combine.

Cover the oats with apple juice and soak overnight. Pour 6 tablespoons (89 ml) of apple juice over the oats and apricots. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or store in a lidded container overnight. This will soften the oats and the fruit, adding sweetness to the muesli from the apple juice. You can substitute dried apricots for any other dried fruit that you may prefer.

Wash and grate the apple. Regardless of the recipe, Apple has always been a key component of Bircher muesli. Just before you want to eat your muesli, wash 1 dessert apple with cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Grate the apple into coarse pieces, being careful not to grate the core or loosen any seeds.

Combine the oats with the apple and a splash of milk. Take the soaked oats and dried apricots out of the refrigerator and mix with the grated apple. Combine with a splash of milk until the muesli reaches the consistency of a loose porridge.

Serve the muesli with chopped almonds and a dollop of yogurt. Sprinkle the top of the Bircher muesli with a handful of roughly chopped almonds or any other nut of your choice. Add a dollop of yogurt and serve immediately.