Many commercially processed mueslis are high in unnecessary sugars, if it's something you’re concerned about, making your own homemade toasted muesli is super easy and doesn’t take too long.

Doing it yourself means you have better control over what's going into your breakfast; although mueslis can contain nuts (high in fats) and dried fruit (high in sugars) these ingredients aren’t necessarily ‘bad’ for you when eaten in a standard portion size as part of a balanced diet with everything in moderation.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup thread coconut
• 1 cup nuts (i.e. half a cup almonds, half a cup cashews)
• 1/2 cup seeds (i.e. quarter cup sunflower seeds, quarter cup pumpkin seeds)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup rice bran or coconut oil

METHOD

Combine all dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Combine honey and oil in a separate bowl, then heat in a saucepan over low heat before mixing all ingredients together (I tend to do this part in a large saucepan, then just tip the dry ingredients straight in and mix it all together; saves on dishes but you may need to keep stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pan!).

Spread out mixture on a baking tray lined with baking paper. You may need to do this in two batches so that you can spread it thinly enough otherwise it won’t toast properly and will stay soft.

Bake in oven at 150 degrees around 10-15 mins until golden. Watch carefully to ensure it doesn’t burn – if it reaches this time, is beginning to burn and is still underdone, you can turn the oven down to around 60 degrees and keep the oven door ajar until it dries out more.

Allow to cool then store in an airtight container; will last around a week.

TIP: Get creative with it! Try substituting ingredients or including extras, for example, include 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tbsp chia seeds with this recipe for extra flavour and an added protein boost. Add them in with the honey and oil when you heat it up. You can also include chopped dried fruit after the mixture has cooled down at the end.

Image / NZ Real Health