Honey Toasted Muesli

I have made a lot of muesli in my time and I have found that pretty much any combination of nuts, grains, fruits and seeds can be delicious, and so much better than anything you can buy in the supermarket.  The only thing that you need to do is shake or stir the mix every 10 minutes during baking so the nuts and coconut don’t burn. You can substitute the honey for maple or golden syrup or apple juice and change the combination of ingredients to suit your taste. If you are adding dried fruit, slice it up and add it after the muesli is cooked and cooled.

4 cups rolled oats

1 cup raw almonds

½ cup slivered almonds

½ cup pumpkin seeds

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup shredded or flaked coconut

½ cup raw cashews

¼ cup chia seeds

1 tspn cinnamon

1 cup raisins

½ cup honey

Preheat oven to 160 degrees. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except raisins and honey. Microwave honey for 30 seconds and then pour into dry ingredients and mix well. Lay out muesli mix on two baking trays and bake for 10 mins. Remove trays form oven, stir muesli and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove trays, add raisins, stir again and bake for a final 10 minutes. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container. 

Cacao Bliss Balls

I try not to eat too much sugar but I do love chocolate and definitely feel like I need some most days at 3pm.  These are the perfect healthy snack to satisfy these cravings. The raw cacao sates the desire for the chocolate and the nuts make this fulfilling enough that you can generally stop after one (or maybe two…)

1 cup raw almonds

½ cup walnuts

2 heaped tbspn almond meal

1 heaped tbspn raw cacao

1 tspn cinnamon

½ tspn ground cardamom

250g dried figs, quartered

½ cup goji berries

2 tbspn coconut oil, melted

extra raw cacao

Place nuts and spices in a food processor. Pulse til nuts are chopped. Add figs and goji berries. Pulse again until figs are chopped and mixed through. Add coconut oil and pulse until combined. Roll mixture into balls and place on a tray lined with non stick paper. Sift over extra raw cacao and roll balls in the cacao until they are covered. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

(If your figs are really dry, soak in boiling water for five minutes before you use them)

You can also substitute any of the dried fruit, nuts or spices, and roll in shredded coconut instead of or combined with the cacao. If you want a softer paste, you can also add more coconut oil.

Bircher Muesli

I have never been a fan of bircher muesli. I generally find it too sweet and mushy, but I had this at a friend’s house the other day and I am converted. The key is to use a natural yoghurt (as opposed to vanilla or flavoured) and she swears by organic apple juice. I serve it with extra yoghurt on top with a sprinkling of mixed seeds and dried fruit, but my friend served it with raspberry coulis mixed with thawed frozen raspberries – yum!!

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup yoghurt

½ cup apple juice

¼ cup slivered almonds

¼ cup currants

grated green apple to serve

Mix oats, yoghurt, juice, almonds and currants in a bowl. Refrigerate overnight. To serve grate half a green apple per person and mix through oat mixture. Top with a dollop of yoghurt and a drizzle of honey, coulis or fruit and nuts.