Home-made toasted oat muesli

Written by Catherine Saxelby on Tuesday, 23 June 2009.

Ready In: 22 minutes
Prep Time: 12 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 1 kg (20 serves of 1/2 cup)

If you enjoy muesli as I do, you'll love this crispy version that gets dry-baked in the oven. There's no ADDED fat but lots of interesting taste variations from the different seeds, nuts or dried fruit. If you want to fruit-free version, simply omit the apricots, sultanas and currants.

Note:
You can buy psyllium flakes from the health food aisle at your supermarket. It looks like soft pale wheat bran but is a gluten-free source of soluble fibre. Like oat bran, it is effective at lowering cholesterol. And it's an excellent laxative if you're troubled by constipation. Adding some to muesli is the best way to 'disguise' it.

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
½ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup slivered almonds
½ cup raw psyllium (optional - see note above)
½ cup sultanas
¼ cup chopped dried apricots
¼ cup currants
TO SERVE:
milk or yoghurt
sliced banana or handful of berries

Nutrition per serve

530 kilojoules (133 Calories), protein 4 g; 6 g fat (incl 1 g saturated), 13 g carbohydrate (incl 6 g sugars), 3 g fibre, 5 mg sodium.

Directions

1. Place oats, seeds and almonds on a large baking tray and spread out in an even layer. Bake in a hot oven 200°C/420°F for 5-7 minutes. With a wide spatula or wok charn, turn the oat mix over and leave for a further 5 minutes or until golden around the edges. Watch it from time to time so that it doesn't burn.

2. Turn into a large mixing bowl and leave to cool. Add remaining ingredients and mix.

3. Serve with milk or yoghurt and sliced banana or a handful of blueberries or other fresh fruit.

Variations

Use 1 cup mixed fruit medley in place of the sultanas, apricots and currants. Or 1 cup of whatever dried fruit you have at home.
Add ¼ cup linseeds.
Add ¼ cup chopped walnuts or pine nuts or other nuts for a different flavour.