A Homemade Muesli Recipe for the Best Breakfast!

Homemade muesli really is a breeze to make..so here's a muesli recipe to get you loving homemade muesli!

Muesli is a great snack recipe, too - not just a breakfast recipe. If you want healthy, organic food, then a good muesli recipe is a great starting point at any time of the day!

Here are some suggestions for the very best organic ingredients and the proportions to use for making a great easy muesli.

Get the kids involved if you can - it's quite good fun, pouring and mixing the ingredients. 

Lets look at the main ingredients for a good muesli.

Picture: Muesli with fresh grapes, apple and blackberries

First the cereals...

To prepare a good muesli base choose some or all of the following organic grains: 

wheat flakes, rolled oats, rye flakes, barley kernels or flakes, wheatgerm

Oats and wheat flakes are probably the commonest ingredients for muesli. Use them as the main elements in your muesli base - as much as 50 - 80% of the mix. Most of these can be found in health food stores and even supermarkets. If you cannot find organic cereals you might be able to find conservation grade ones.

Experiment with different mixes and you will soon learn which cereals you like best. For a subtle taste it's good to include a high proportion of oats.

Go easy on the wheat germ. While it is nutritionally wonderful, too much of it gives a mealy texture. It also deteriorates quickly. I tend to leave it out altogether as it is by no means essential - just a good food source for vitamins that are sometimes lacking in the modern diet.

If you are intolerant of wheat, wheat-free muesli can be bought from Amazon. You can also use other cereals if you like.

It's also very easy to mix your own wheat-free or special muesli. 

Easy on the nuts and seeds...

Mix in some of these organic nuts and seeds: 

almonds, brazils, cashew nuts, coconut, hazels, macadamia, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts.

It is best not to have too many nuts and seeds in your muesli mix as they are rich in proteins and oils - the mix can become rather a challenge to the digestive system!

Of course you can make muesli as a high carb recipe by leaving out nuts and seeds entirely, if you prefer. Oats and wholewheat do contain a little protein but if you want to make a high protein recipe, this can be achieved by using plenty of nuts and seeds and adding tahini.

Chop the larger nuts into pieces first. Almonds and coconut are best flaked.

Hazels and almonds can be lightly toasted under the grill. Only do this if you are going to eat the muesli mix fairly quickly, as cooked nuts will not keep as long. Toasting brings out the nutty flavours. Put down tin foil or a shallow metal tray and toast on a low heat, watching them like a hawk for burning. You can rub off the brown skins of hazel nuts after toasting.

You can dry roast small seeds such as sesame seeds in a pan over a low heat. Keep them moving by shaking the pan often to stop them burning. Turn the heat off as soon as they start to smell good.

If you are keeping an eye on calories, or just want a low-fat muesli, it is best to avoid large quantities of nuts and dried fruit.

And finally...the fruit

Add in a small proportion of any of the following dried fruits: 

apple, apricots, banana, currants, dates, prunes, sultanas, raisins,

Lexia raisins are particularly tasty. Many of the more exotic fruits such as papaya and even pineapple are heavily sugared to preserve them, so they are not ideal for a staple muesli mix.

The fruit sugars in dried fruit are still quite concentrated, so again, it is better to be a bit stingy with the proportions.

Natural sugars, released from the break down of carbohydrates in the cereals, will give you more sustained energy than concentrated fruit sugars. If you have too many dried fruits at once your system reacts much as it would to having a junk food cereal - a quick sugar high followed by an energy slump.

Storing your muesli

Store your muesli recipe mix in an air-tight container such as a glass jar with a well-fitting lid and it should last for months if necessary.

Grains will lose freshness and potency, and fats deteriorate with exposure to air, so it is better to only store enough for a few weeks.

Nuts are especially prone to turning rancid, so it's best to keep them separate and add them when you prepare your muesli. They also deteriorate more quickly if they are chopped.

Alternatively, prepare only enough for a couple of weeks at a time. A homemade muesli recipe is fast enough to make, after all!

A homemade muesli recipe:
How to prepare muesli for eating

Easy eh? Just pour on the milk and you're away!

Well, not really...

It is easy - but not quite that easy!

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First, soak well!

It is always best to soak muesli well before eating it. It is far more digestible and, once you get used to it, you will probably find that it is delicious that way. (It is more digestible because phytates in the fibre break down. Phytates are a problem for some people because they block absorption of some nutrients.)

Soak it overnight or for at least half an hour before you want to eat it. You can soak it in milk, water, fruit juices or any number of milk substitutes< such as soya milk or rice milk. It's really nice soaked in a mild apple juice. Orange juice and other citrus fruits are not so good as cereals and citrus tend to not mix well.

To get the best from muesli, serve it with finely chopped or grated fresh apple and a selection of fresh berries such as raspberries, bilberries, or blueberries. Peach and nectarine are also very nice sliced into the mix and fresh grapes are great too.

You can experiment with whatever is in season.

Honey and tahini

If fresh or dried fruit happen to be a bit lacking a spoonful of honey can transform a plain muesli.

Tahini can be a good too, giving it a nutty taste and creamy texture. Tahini is a kind of nut butter prepared from sesame seeds; it is a common ingredient in middle-eastern cooking. It is also very high in calories, so use in moderation if you are weight-watching.

Try adding Hunza apricots if you can. They are often available in health food stores. These are the apricots eaten by the Hunza people who are famed for their longevity! You will need to pre-soak them.

If you are making muesli for small children (the ones that don't like lumps!) you can whizz up the ingredients in food processor until everything is almost a powder.

This approach may also suit anyone who has difficulty chewing, such as elderly people or invalids. Avoid nuts, even well processed ones, for people who are unwell and the very young as they may present a choking hazard.

A homemade muesli recipe:
Why compromise?

Muesli is one of the best health foods if prepared well. This muesli recipe is infinitely variable. Once you have the basic ingredients in your kitchen you can prepare different variations, including some things and excluding others. It's quick to make and inexpensive, too.

It's a far cry from the rough, chewy, over-sweet and indigestible stuff that often results when you buy a pre-packed muesli and just add milk!

Organic muesli is best of all - and becomes more affordable if you mix it yourself.

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Muesli and breakfast-related reading

The Raw 50: 10 Amazing Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Drinks for Your Raw Food Lifestyle This famous model knows a thing or two about the benefits of raw food. Carol Alt shares her secrets of vitality, beauty and abundant energy in this ground-breaking book.

Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes An excellent book for lovers of vegan food and anyone else who likes to explore explosive taste combinations and raw food. Lots of tips on living more lightly on the planet, too.

Green for Life This is an amazing book! It explores how to get more greens into your life through making smoothies. I know that does not sound so promising... but when you read the effect this has on the people in the book, you'll see what I mean. Basically many people lack minerals and green smoothies can supply them - abundantly!

Pancakes for Breakfast is a delightful story told without words. The old lady in the story shows lots of determination to have her pancakes!

Making up a muesli recipe is not quite as exciting as making pancakes but little ones usually enjoy it - and you don't have to worry about hot fat!

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A Homemade Muesli Recipe

Green Recipe Book - Organic Healthy Recipes

Greenfootsteps Home - for more easy green living ideas