Edit: I’ve found a method to improve this, I’ll edit the post below. Photo attached!
I made a mistake, and bought a bag of muesli thinking it was cereal clusters. There is nobody else to blame other than my stupidity.
I don’t think I know how to eat this thing. It’s practically rolled oats with bits of fruit and nuts and all bran kind of cereals added in the mix but hardly noticeable.
I tried eating it like cereal, adding it to yoghurt or milk. It tastes like insipid cardboard flakes sprinkled with fruit. I tried cooking porridge with it, that was an improvement but I still find it boring.
Perhaps you have some suggestions on how to actually enjoy eating what’s left of it? Bonus points if you know how to make it crunchy.
Thanks
Edit: I don’t typically add sugar to things or even buy sugary cereal. My problem with this thing is the texture first and foremost. Thanks for your concern on how much processed foods I don’t buy or like are harming my life.
Edit 2: Tried the overnight method, it’s better than porridge as the consistency is much firmer and less slimey. Plus, it’s cold already.
Toasting or baking on a tray makes it so much better and crispy, it doesn’t feel chewing cardboard anymore.
Finally I tried making clusters and this is the best method for me. Just let the muesli soak a few hours in water until it takes a semisolid consistency. I spread the paste in blotches on a tray, and baked for around an hour at low heat. These clusters are very crunchy!
Photo shows the round container with the muesli straight out of the bag vs the toasted and clustered versions I made in the other container.
Honestly this is just what natural food tastes like when not filled with sugar. It takes a little getting used to if you are normally having processed stuff.
I eat a lot of sweets… Like, I will eat a stool-liquifying amount of nutella by the spoon if given the opportunity… But I mostly drink water and the only time I do soft drink is as a mixer. When I drink coke or eat most cereals I am disgusted by the diabetus-inducing gluttony of sugar. When I eat a jar of Nutella I know what the fuck I signed up for. When I eat cereal I expect carbs and fibre; not a heart attack.
It’s amazing how much you notice sugar when you cut it out of your diet. Store bought shit tastes sickly-sweet after only a couple of weeks of keto.
Really? My problem is the texture, not the sweetness. Literally like chewing cardboard.
Western diets are a lot softer than the crunchy or chewy foods that pre-industrial humans ate. It’s cited as one of the reasons for modern orthodontic disorders.
I guess it’s good I’m asking for crunch, not sweetness? No idea why people are upvoting the “get off processed sugary foods” comment. Wtf.
The overall impression I get from peoples’ replies to you is “natural food is to suffer blandness and dislike, just endure”
It’s tragic.
To me it sounds best to go with the honey baked guy’s suggestion, they seem to know what’s up.
I agree 100%. Since I don’t have honey and I’m not planning to get groceries again in a week I might just bake it as it is. I doubt I can ruin this.
Please tell us how it comes out! I have time extra muesli to use up and am following along with curiosity.
I’ve updated the post with results and a photo. Cheers!
Ah, I see. I don’t eat much muesli, but I think different muesli might be crunchier. Some muesli can be pretty flakey without much to bite into.
Coming from the Land of Muesli, it’s really quite simple and it’s really the same way we eat any cereal over here:
- put Muesli in a small bowl
- add fresh (ideally cold) cow milk
- eat it all with a spoon (quickly, before it loses most texture and becomes a soggy pulp / porridge-like)
If you like it a bit sweeter, mix a fruit yoghurt into it. Personally, I add the yoghurt after the Muesli and stir/mix it a bit before adding the milk.
Of course you can also add fresh sweet fruits (bananas, apples, strawberries, peaches, etc.) cut into slices/cubes.
If you prefer vegan milk alternatives, oat milk works great. Honestly, I think a good oat milk complements the Muesli (which usually contains oats) better than cow milk and I would suggest everyone try it.
Today I learned there are two types of muesli and I got the non toasted one apparently and unfortunately. Do you also have this distinction wherever you are from?
It’s Switzerland. While I don’t know the answer to your question, having grown up there and in the states, I wanted to compare the cereal industries and how they tried to promote a healthier lifestyle. Then this happened: (from Wikipedia)
An early proponent of the germ theory of disease, Kellogg was well ahead of his time in relating intestinal flora and the presence of bacteria in the intestines to health and disease. The sanitarium approached treatment in a holistic manner, actively promoting vegetarianism, nutrition, the use of enemas to clear “intestinal flora”, exercise, sun-bathing, and hydrotherapy, as well as the abstention from smoking tobacco, drinking alcoholic beverages, and sexual activity. Kellogg dedicated the last 30 years of his life to promoting eugenics and segregation.
😳
Yes… That and the corn flakes backstory about not masturbating iirc? Not surprising but still interesting, thanks for sharing
Try toasting it, maybe you’ll like it better. Spread some out on a sheet pan and stick it in the oven… Alternately toss it around in a frying pan. Doing so with a little butter might enhance the taste as well.
I did this morning, and you’re not wrong! Toasting on a pan actually made it much crispier. I’m still hoping to bake clusters with it, once I’m done experimenting I’ll update the post. Cheers
Not sure what toasted means exactly in this context, but I guess traditionally we have non-toasted Muesli.
But nowadays we have many variations, some that would probably be more to your tasting (with corn flakes and crisp clusters) and some (even) less so.
This is how I’ve always eaten it; though you can also mix it with some flour, egg, baking powder, and yoghurt and bake bars.
Lmao why even specify cow milk, any milk is fine. You even mention how you prefer oat milk afterwards 🤯
I was talking about the traditional way of eating it and that’s with cow milk. I specified it precisely because I’m making a contrasting recommendation later on.
Americans when they eat something that is not filled with 150 (imperial) tons of sugar…
Lol seriously. I had the hardest time finding granola without added sugar and realized that muesli is what I’m looking for.
It’s awesome in Greek yogurt and blueberries.
It’s great stirred into plain or vanilla yoghurt for breakfast. I think that’s in fact the “traditional European” way it’s eaten?
Or at least at nearly every Bed & Breakfast in western Canada that tries to be “Victorian” :)
Coming from Germany, I don’t know if the traditional way to eat muesli is just adding yoghurt. Most people I know normally add fresh milk to it.
Personally, I enjoy my daily Müsli with vanilla soy milk (but I tend to be the only one liking that), fruit skyr (or yogurt), some oatmeal and/or crunchy granola, and most importantly, at least two kinds of fresh fruit, like bananas, peaches, apples, pears, or grapes. Without fruit, it just tastes bland.
Oh yes, fruit! I should have included that of course. Some peaches or berries are so good with Muesli.
Try baking it like granola. Mix it with a little honey and maybe more dried fruit if you like that, spread a thin layer on an oiled baking sheet, and bake slow and low until it’s crisp. Should improve the texture and make it a better contrast with the yogurt.
Yes, this is great advice. Toasted is awesome.
Never did it on a very low heat, myself, though…
I guess “very low” is subjective. When my oven is on I’m usually broiling, so I’m probably not the best at estimating.
Mix it with frozen berries and plain (unsweetened) yoghurt, and let sit in the fridge over night. It’s delicious in the morning.
Huh, overnight you say? I’ll try this, I got all the ingredients already
Yep, it takes a couple hours for the moisture of the yoghurt to fully seep into the muesli. If it’s too soggy for your taste afterwards, you can always stir some more back in to balance it out, but personally I like it very soggy. It becomes almost porridge-like. If it’s too sour, I’d add honey instead of sugar.
If you’re not overly concerned with sugar content, try some flavoured milk. I bought some banana flavoured soymilk (Alpro I think) a while ago and put it in the fridge overnight with the oats, was amazing, didn’t even need any added fruits or whatever, though I did add some walnuts I had laying around (after the soaking in the fridge).
I tried overnight oats with yoghurt once and it failed miserably, the oats didn’t absorb anything. Tried it with some milk later and it was perfect.
Proper Bircher Muesli right here.
That doesn’t sound like proper bircher muesli to me. Bircher is: soak oats in water, add grated apple, lemon juice, ground hazelnuts, “Kondensmilch” (like tubed, sweetened concentrated milk).
I usually do it as follows (but it’s not “Bircher”): Mix oats with soymilk, sugar and cinnamon. Sometimes I add a little joghurt to get a denser consistency. Then some fruit. Berries, grated apple or banana (in slices) work well. Mix and soak overnight. Eat cold in the morning. I usually also prep 3 portions and eat them over the next 3 days.
Throw in some chia seeds or ground flaxseed if you want to publish the recipe on a foodblog.
Mainline it.
Put that shit in a blender and inject it straight into your arm.
I like your style
Some brands seem to make it crunchy. I just eat that like cereal with soy milk or yogurt. I made the mistake of buying cheap muesly from the local convenience store and it was exactly how you described it. It was the “let sit overnight” type. Except it had cornflakes in it that would get soggy and fall apart.
I forced myself to eat most of it, the rest went to my local murder of crows who picked at the dried fruit and cornflakes and left the oats to the pigeons to deal with. I guess I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like them.
As for the crunchiness, maybe try making it into granola in the oven? Not sure if that would work but it’s worth a shot.
Heh, that’s funny. I’m learning with this post that there are two muesli types and I was unlucky enough to get the overnight type too. Some people are suggesting toasting and baking too, I’ll have fun with that
I assume it’s the ‘swiss style’ raw rolled oats not toasted.
I have it with plain yoghurt and a bit of jam. Milk is nice too. I like the texture and it’s fantastic for your gut.
Having said that you obviously hate that, so try this:
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Mix equal parts honey, brown sugar and coconut oil (or olive oil you could even add a dollop of butter) and heat in a saucepan until the sugar is melted. (About a 1/3 cup of each should be enough for about 3-4 cups of muesli mixture.) While you wait, put your oven on a medium to low heat like 150C.
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Separate out the fruit bits and set aside. Combine the rest of the ingredients with the melted honey oil mix, and spread out thin on a baking tray (you may want to do batches, keep it spread thin here!
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Bake on low for about 20-30min, stirring every 5-10min. (Don’t let it burn)
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Once cool, break it up and add your fruit back, Voila! You have crunchy home made granola cereal! Feel free to add anything else, pecan nuts / almonds / coconut flakes - either raw or toast it with the granola at the beginning. I like banana chips. Chocolate chips are nice too. You can’t really go wrong and it’s easy as.
Note:: The only thing you want to avoid is burning it while you toast it, the burn flavour will take over the whole mix! So keep an eye on it and keep it moving.
Note:: melted sugar is like lava. Melt it on the saucepan slowly and don’t let it smoke. Keep the heat low. Don’t stir in to the muesli with your hands. Use a wooden spoon. That shit will burn.
Okay, I might need more ingredients but I like the sound of this. Thanks for the suggestion!
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I use Greek yogurt and a bit of honey. Eventually you may not need the honey if you are trying to reduce the added sugar.
I find the texture is better if I let the muesli sit in th3 yogurt for 30 mins or so
Add some brown sugar and butter, little bit of flour. Use it as a crumble topping.
Hmm yes this sounds enjoyable, although it requires a bit more effort and ingredients. Will keep in mind, thanks!
dont use milk, use heavy cream
dont add sugar, add honey
granola is superior in every conceivable way though, so make this purchase a learning experience.
Are you aware that granola is basically muesli with sugar and/or honey?
I would be full after two spoons.
If you don’t like it as a ceral, you could try making biscuits out of it? Rolled oats biscuits are pretty good. I know I’m risking my Australian citizenship here but you could try doing an Anzac biscuit like thing to it. Super simple biscuit that lasts forever that just needs rolled oats, golden syrup, bicarb, coconut, and some flour.
Alternatively you could make a muesli bar and eat that. I know they’re not that healthy but when you’re making it yourself you can like control that sort of thing
(I personally eat muesli with yoghurt so there’s a bit of body to the entire thing, but that’s already been suggested)
Heh Anzac biscuits are nice! Some people have suggested baking and toasting in different ways, I just don’t have any ingredients to do so.
If overnight method or plain baking doesn’t work, I might also risk my citizenship and buy ingredients to bake something next time I get groceries. Cheers
Make muesli bars with it. Make a simple syrup add and mix. Push in to a mold , let it cool and cut in to bars. Loads of Recipes online
I like to lightly toast it in a pan then add milk (I use almond milk) to the pan and simmer. Stop simmering when it reaches a consistency you like.
You can add anything to it: fruit, nuts, honey… If it comes out too thick just add more milk till you like it.
I guess this is also easy to experiment with, I’ll see how it goes, thanks
