Friday, March 23, 2007

Muesli With Everything

everythingmuesli

I've made my own muesli - or granola (what's the difference??) - before, but I gotta say, this one is way better. I spent last weekend in Gothenburg with Linda and Anders, two friends who have darling cats - one from us, and one who was picked to be Kelly's boyfriend. (More on that tomorrow, for weekend cat blogging.) Linda had made muesli - and it was completely wonderful. So wonderful that I couldn't wait to get home and make some myself.

I know there's a very long ingredients list, but feel free to mix and substitute as you please. And obviously you can use whatever nuts and fruits that you want. Whatever you choose, you'll have a super healthy breakfast, perfect to sprinkle on a bowl of yogurt or sour milk.

Watch this as you roast it in the oven. You need to make sure it doesn't burn - and leave it for a minute too long and it inevitably will. Be careful!

Kitty notes - I should have locked up my little vandals before starting. Jamy took a liking to this - everything from jumping in the entire seed mix (spraying the kitchen with sesame seeds), napping in the bowl (which I covered with a towel when I went to work, to licking the honey. He was very determined. And so he was this morning, when I had some muesli with sour milk. He was absolutely nuts for it! So, consider this kitten-approved muesli!

I know many of you are not familiar with what a "dl" is. It's a decilitre - a tenth of a litre, or 100 ml. Or 0,4 cups. It's the single most used measure in Sweden.

Muesli With Everything

4 dl rolled rye (like rolled oats, but from rye) (1,6 cups)
5 dl rolled oats (2 cups)
2 dl rolled spelt (0,8 cups)
2 dl rolled buckwheat (0,8 cups)
50 g pecans, in large pieces
50 g almonds, halved
50 g hazelnuts, halved
2 dl sunflower seeds (0,8 cups)
1,5 dl coconut flakes (0,6 cups)
1 dl linseed (0,4 cups)
1 dl sesame seeds (0,4 cups)

3 tbsp runny honey
3 tbsp rape seed oil (or any good, neutral oil - not olive)
250 ml water (1 cup)

3 tbsp dried cranberries
7-8 dried apricots
3 tbsp dried strawberries
3 tbsp dried apple
3 vanilla beans

Mix all the dry ingredients - grains and nuts. Cut all the fruit in small pieces, and set aside. Mix the honey, water and oil, and add this to the grains and nuts. Mix very well until everything is a bit moist and clumps together a bit. Transfer to a very large rimmed cookie sheet, or two, if you need to.

Roast in the oven at 200°C for 30 minutes. You need to watch it closely, and take it out stir and shake at least twice during this time. When it's all crunchy and golden, take it out and leave to cool. Mix with the fruit and store in a large tight-lidded jar. Cut the vanilla beans in a few pieces, and stick into the muesli. (Don't eat them - just keep them there to subtly infuse the muesli with their flavor.)

Recipe in Swedish:
Müsli med det mesta

7 comments:

Brilynn said...

Beautiful picture!
I can't blame Jamy for diving in!

Pia K said...

Men så rart med en müsli-tokig kisse:)

Jag brukar, alldeles för sällan dock, göra egen müsli, det blir verkligen gott! Men jag brukar inte ha ha de flytande ingredienserna utan förlitar mig på de torra inkl nötterna:)

Anonymous said...

Yours is Granola, because it's been soaked in oil and honey and toasted afterwards. Muesli is just the non-toasted combination of cereals and dried fruit and nuts, promoted by the swiss physician Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner.

Allen said...

Your recipe sounds delicious. I enjoy granola but notice a few ingredients in your recipe that I haven't tried before (i.e. rye, vanilla beans). I love cereal and not just for breakfast!

Anne said...

Anonymous - thank you for clearing that up! Here in Sweden, we just say muesli. :)

Pia - det blir lite knaprigare så här, märkte jag. Lite mer åt Start-hållet.

Karin W. said...

Me too was a bit confused about the difference between Granola and Muesli.

This is the explanation I found: Granola is usually coated with some type of sugary substance or honey and toasted. It may contain pieces of fruit, nuts, various grains, coconut, chocolate bits, the list is endless......

Muesli, invented by the Swiss apparently, normally has a base of oats and can contain nuts and fruit too, but generally is untoasted. It is often unsweetened.

Anonymous said...

Nice blog! And nice muesli! :)

/ john