What to eat Wednesdays - Soaked muesli/granola

Although I've never been a fan of breakfast cereal, Paul loves it. Mostly for the convenience. It's all he's capable of making first thing in the morning. Anyone who's seen Paul before noon will know what I'm talking about. (Let's just say, it's best not to see Paul before noon.)

In any case, as I've researched health and nutrition, I've become concerned by what I've found out about boxed cereal. This article from the Weston A. Price website for example, talks about how the industrial process that creates cereal actually destroys any nutrients contained within the original grains, and renders their protein toxic.

Safe to say, I want a healthier option for Paul and our daughter. 

I plan to experiment with a few different recipes so I can offer Paul variety. This first soaked muesli recipe I tried from passionatehomemaking was a success so I'm going to share how I made it below.

Ingredients

• 8c / 1kg rolled oats
• 1/4c whole-wheat flour
• 3/4c coconut oil, melted
• 1/2c butter, melted (or skip the coconut oil and increase butter to 1 1/4c)
• 1 1/2c milk kefir, or cultured buttermilk
• 1-2c water (use only as much as you need to produce a moist consistency for soaking)
• 3/4c real maple syrup
• 1/2c raw honey (or skip the maple syrup and increase honey to 1 1/4c)
• 1t natural sea salt
• 8t cinnamon
• 4t vanilla extract
• 1c desiccated coconut
• 1c chopped almonds
• 1/2c sunflower seeds or chopped pumpkin seeds
• 1c raisins (organic and sulphur free)
• 1/4c dried blueberries
• 1/4c dried cranberries
• 1/4c dried cherries
• 1/4c dried apricots (organic and sulphur free), diced

Method

1. Mix rolled oats and whole-wheat flour with milk kefir, melted butter, melted coconut oil and water. Cover with a tea towel or plate and leave to soak at room temperature for 24 hours. This soaking process makes the nutrients within the rolled oats more readily digestible. 

2. After the soaking time, preheat oven to 105°C. Place honey, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla and sea salt in  a double boiler and gently melt together, stirring until honey becomes thin. Combine this with the oats, mixing to incorporate. Spread mixture out in two oven trays lined with baking paper.

3. Bake at 105°C for 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally. Leave to cool in oven as they will continue to crisp up as they cool. 

4. Mix in coconut, almonds, seeds and dried fruit as desired. 

5. Store in an airtight container. Serve with fresh raw milk (or silver top if you've only got access to town milk) or homemade yoghurt and fresh fruit.

One happy husband. Apparently the muesli is really filling, so you only need a little bit at a time.

Check out my other soaked muesli recipes:

Apple-baked breakfast muesli / granola

Chai-spiced breakfast muesli / granola