Great start of the day: homemade muesli

I found this recipe in one of my grandmothers magazine (passed down via my mother and on to me) and it looked so easy and delicious that I had to try it. I’ve already made a second batch too, it’s really delicious and really good for you too. So an excellent start of the day! Here’s how to make it:

Preheat the oven to 180 C and cover a baking sheet with baking parchment. In a bowl, mix 180 g oatmeal with 45 g dried apple cut in small pieces (I use scissors, much easier), 70 g skinned almonds (left whole – if you only have some with skin on, that’s fine too), 100 ml apple sauce, 2 tbsp maple syrup and 1 tsp cinnamon. Spread it out on your baking sheet and put it in the oven for 30 min, stirring every 10 min. Cover loosely with a sheet of  aluminium foil for the last 10 min or so as the apples burn easily (so keep a close eye on it).

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Transfer to an airtight tin and add 50 g goji berries and 40 g wheat (or oat) flakes. You can keep it in the tin for 2 weeks. Eat with some yoghurt or milk. You can add pieces of fresh fruit as well. Enjoy!

Breakfast in a cookie: oatmeal, raisins and goji berries

I was having a bit of a cold and getting tired of all the chicken soup, so I needed to take action. In oriental cuisine, the tart goji berries are used against colds (in chicken soup, but also in tea, cookies…) so I decided to make some cookies with them. I wanted something a bit “healthy” as well, so I thought rolled oats would do just the trick! I went ahead and adapted the Oat and Raisin Cookie recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook to my liking. Here’s how:

Preheat the oven to 170°C and mix 135 g unsalted butter (at room temperature) with 160 g brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add 1 egg and a few drops of vanilla extract and mix well. Stir in 190 g plain flour, 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, 1/4 teaspoon mixed spice (the recipe calls for cinnamon, but I think it easily overpowers and I’m a bit tired of the taste) and 55 g rolled oats (you can still use your electric mixer at this point). Now stir in 80 g raisins and 40 g goji berries (or cranberries – you can also use all raisins of course or even add chocolate chunks) until evenly dispersed. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and arrange equal amounts of dough on the tray (I roll a golfball size ball in my hand and then squish it a bit on the tray). Make sure to space them apart as they will spread while baking. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown and firm. Leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Tastes delicious for a whole week! Enjoy while listening to I feel better by Gotye.

Use up left-over rolled oats in apple and oatmeal cookies. Use up raisins (and goji berries, cranberries…) in bread pudding or rum-raisin cookies.