cranberry, pistachio and cinnamon toasted muesli

There's Julie London on the stereo and I've just put the lid on a big freshly-toasted jar of this muesli. It's sitting on my kitchen bench - and it looks totally ace. Next to it, I've got a litre of fresh milk slowly turning into yoghurt. Now I'm going to sit down and polish my halo. Making this muesli to get me through the week ahead makes me feel virtuous, but eating it is something else - cause this stuff is like crack. I'm totally addicted.


I love toasted muesli so much, but I'm not about to pretend that chowing down a big bowl of this constitutes a particularly healthy start to the day. However with some restraint (booo!), I think this can be part of weekday breakfasts. It is packed full of nuts and linseeds and sunflower kernels and cranberries, so it is very nutritious. After drizzling the whole thing with maple syrup and baking it though, I dare say this is a not a low-calorie affair. But I love about 1/4 of a cup of with good yoghurt and some berries - and I'll gladly have a little of anything over none at all.


I'm not sure if making muesli at home is actually any cheaper than buying it, but I'd like to imagine that it is. In any case, it is a million times better than buying it from a store, because you can put whatever you want in and leave out all those bits that spoil your otherwise favourite muesli. I adapted a basic recipe I found in delicious. magazine years ago, so I'm sure you can put anything you fancy into this and it will still be the bomb. Don't care for cinnamon (what?!?)? Add some shredded coconut. Replace the maple syrup with more honey, or use pumpkin seeds instead of sunflower. Take out the cranberries, add apricots, or dried apple, or...goji berries (?) or chopped dark chocolate (dear lord!). The world is your oyster - at least at breakfast time.

cranberry, pistachio and cinnamon toasted muesli
Adapted from delicious. magazine 2007

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup flaked almonds
3/4 cup sunflower kernals
1/3 cup linseeds
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tbls grapeseed oil
2 tbls honey
3/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries
1/2 cup pistachios, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place syrup, honey and oil in a small saucepan over low heat until combined and runny - about 2 minutes.

2. Combine oats, almonds, linseeds, sunflower kernals and cinnamon in a bowl. Toss until the cinnamon is all the way through the mixture. Spread this on your baking tray, then drizzle with warm syrup mixture.

3. Bake for around 12 - 14 minutes or until toasted and golden, stirring once during cooking. A note: I leave mine in longer because I like a more golden, more toasted finish - around 18 minutes all up. Just keep your eye on it! Remove and cool to room temperature.

4. While this is cooling, combine the cranberries and pistachios in a large bowl. Add the cooled oat mix (which should be crispy and looking awesome, and stir until well combined. Store your muesli in an airtight container at room temperature. Recipe says for up to 10 days, but I know I've kept mine longer and it's fine.